Chapter I: Front Matter

A RESIDENT’S WIFE IN NIGERIA

A RESIDENT’S WIFE
IN NIGERIA

By
CONSTANCE LARYMORE

WITH FORTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS AND A PORTRAIT OF
THE AUTHOR

LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LIMITED
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO
1908

Dedication

TO THE VERY BEST OF COMRADES AND FELLOW-TRAVELLERS

‘THE SAHIB’

Preface

In offering this little book to the public, I want to admit at once that it is in no sense intended as a literary effort, but is merely a record, gathered up from journals and notes of our everyday life and journeys which have occupied the last five years.

My excuse for offering it is that I have been specially fortunate in having opportunities and privileges of travelling about a little bit of the world where few Englishmen have been; and though sorely handicapped by very limited scientific knowledge, I have tried always to keep eyes and ears open.

Only a short time ago, I read these words, written by a wise man, on this very subject—

‘But the best way of travelling is to ride on a horse through country where there are no railways, and no roads, and where, accordingly, the people are rooted and untroubled in mind, and do as little work as they can. Such travelling, it is not to be questioned, makes the best books.’

In the hope that he is right—for, as I have said, he is a wise man—I send my little book forth, to take its chance. The last few chapters, I am aware, should belong to a separate volume, and they were never intended for publication in this form. But they are the outcome of _actual_ experience, and not generalizing from hearsay. Most of them, indeed, were written originally in 1902, but they have been revised, corrected, and corrected again, as time showed me my mistakes and failures. In manuscript form they had been read by many of my friends who pronounced them ‘good,’ and it is by their request that these chapters are included here. It is to these friends that I offer my grateful thanks for the majority and the best of my illustrations. I also have to acknowledge the kindness of the Editors of _Chambers Journal_ and the _Pall Mall Gazette_ in permitting the reproduction of articles published by them at different times.

CONSTANCE LARYMORE.

Contents

CHAP. PAGE

_PART I_

I. SIERRA LEONE TO LOKOJA 1

II. ON TOUR 11

III. BIDA AND EGGA 25

IV. KEFFI 47

V. TREKKING NORTH 61

VI. KANO 73

VII. KATĀGUM AND HADEIJA, AND BACK 85

VIII. KABBA, SEMOLIKA AND PATTI ABAJA 111

IX. BORGU 147

X. BIDA 185

_PART II_

I. THE HOME 195

II. THE HOUSEHOLD 205

III. DOGS, POULTRY AND COWS 221

IV. THE GARDEN 239

V. THE STABLE 257

VI. CAMP LIFE 271

VII. WHAT TO WEAR 291

List of Illustrations

FACING PAGE

Portrait of the Author _Frontispiece_

The Preperanda 8

Polo at Lokoja 8

Kuka (Baobab) Trees 14

A Hausa Beauty 14

The Emir escorting us into Bida 28

Details of Gown Embroidery 28

A Typical Hausa Gown 32

Trouser Embroidery 32

A Camp on the River Bank 40

Roofing at Keffi 40

Native Drummers at Keffi 54

A Detachment of the N. N. Regt. 54

A Kano Street Scene 76

A Kano Mounted Messenger 76

A Kano Caravan Donkey Driver 80

Bringing in Fire-wood 104

A Kano Doorway 104

Mureji—A Caravan about to cross the Niger 112

A Steam Canoe on the Niger 112

The Emir’s Band, Bida 124

My ‘Palm’ Cat (_Nandinia binotata_) 124

‘Fritz’ 152

Our Start from Bussa for Illo 152

Repairing the Bussa Residency 170

Balu (Serval cat) 170

The Steel Canoe in which we descended the Bussa rapids 184

The Tennis Court, Bida 184

The Great Salla 190

The Prostration 190

My Writing Table 198

The Residency, Bida 198

‘Amelia,’ a young Giraffe brought home by the late Captain
Phillips, D.S.O. 210

‘Chuku,’ a Native dog, rescued during the Aro-Chuku Expedition 210

Our energetic D.S.C. training bullocks (Captain Burnside) 236

Giant Sunflowers at Bussa 236

Our Gardener at Play 250

‘Jewel’ and ‘Brown Mouse’ 250

Mr. Lafone’s ‘White Mouse’ 262

Riding Astride—a locally made Skirt! 262

One of our Camps 274

The Mail-Cart, Bida 274