I became so seriously ill on the 8th, that I looked forward with apprehension to my departure, which was fixed for the following day. But before leaving this important place, I will make a few general observations with regard to its history and its present state.
The town of Kanó, considered as the capital of a province, must be of somewhat older date than Kátsena, if we are to rely on Leo’s accuracy, though from other more reliable sources (which I shall bring to light in the chapter on the history of Bórnu) it is evident that even in the second half of the sixteenth century there could have been here only the fortress of Dalá, which, at that period, withstood the attacks of the Bórnu king. I think we are justified in supposing that, in this respect, Leo (when, after an interval of many years, he wrote the account of the countries of Negroland which he had visited) confounded Kanó with Kátsena. The strength of the Kanáwa, that is to say, the inhabitants of the province of Kanó, at the time of the Bórnu king Edrís Alawóma, is quite apparent from the report of his imám; but from that time forth the country seems to have been tributary to Bórnu; and the population of the town of Kanó is said, with good reason, to have consisted from the beginning mostly of Kanúri or Bórnu elements. However, the established allegiance or subjection of this province to Bórnu was evidently rather precarious, and could be maintained only with a strong hand; for there was a powerful neighbour, the King of Korórofa or Júku, ready to avail himself of every opportunity of extending his own power and dominion over that territory. We know also that one king of that country, whose name, however, I could not obtain, on the entry of a new governor into office in Kanó, made an expedition into that country, and installed his own representative in the place of that of Bórnu, and though the eastern provinces of Korórofa itself (I mean the district inhabited by the Koána or Kwána) became afterwards tributary to Bórnu, yet the main province (or Júku proper) with the capital Wukári, seems to have always remained strong and independent, till now, at length, it seems destined to be gradually swallowed up by the Fúlbe, if the English do not interfere. But to return to our subject. As long as Kátsena continued independent and flourishing, the town of Kanó appears never to have been an important commercial place; and it was not till after Kátsena had been occupied by the Fúlbe, and, owing to its exposed position on the northern frontier of Háusa, had become a very unsafe central point for commercial transactions, that Kanó became the great commercial entrepôt of Central Negroland. Before this time, that is to say, before the year 1807, I have strong reason to suppose that scarcely any great Arab merchant ever visited Kanó, a place which nevertheless continues till this very day to be identified with Ghána or Ghánata, a state or town expressly stated by Arab writers of the eleventh century to have been the rendezvous for Arab merchants from the very first rise of commercial connections with Negroland. And all regard to historical or geographical facts is put aside merely from an absurd identification of two entirely distinct names such as Kanó and Ghána or Ghánata.
As to the period when the Kánawa in general became Mohammedans, we may fairly assume it to have been several years later than the time when Máji, the prince of Kátsena, embraced Islám, or about the seventeenth century, though it is evident that the larger portion of the population all over Háusa, especially that of the country towns and villages, remained addicted to paganism till the fanatic zeal of their conquerors the Fúlbe forced them to profess Islám, at least publicly. Nevertheless even at the present day there is a great deal of paganism cherished, and rites really pagan performed, in the province of Kanó as well as in that of Kátsena,—a subject on which I shall say something more on another occasion.
With regard to the growth of the town, we have express testimony that Dalá was the most ancient quarter. The steep rocky hill, about 120 feet high, naturally afforded a secure retreat to the ancient inhabitants in case of sudden attack; but it is most probable that there was another or several separate villages within the wide expanse now encompassed by the wall, which rather exceeds than falls short of fifteen English miles, and it seems inconceivable why the other hill, “Kógo-n-dútsi” (which is enclosed within the circumference of the walls), though it is not quite so well fortified by nature, should not have afforded a strong site for another hamlet. We have, indeed, no means of describing the way in which the town gradually increased to its present size; this much, however, is evident, that the inhabited quarters never filled up the immense space comprised within the walls, though it is curious to observe that there are evident traces of a more ancient wall on the south side, which, as will be seen from the plan, did not describe so wide a circumference, particularly towards the south-west, where the great projecting angle seems to have been added in later times, for merely strategical purposes. The reason why the fortifications were carried to so much greater extent than the population of the town rendered necessary, was evidently to make the place capable of sustaining a long siege (sufficient ground being enclosed within the walls to produce the necessary supply of corn for the inhabitants), and also to receive the population of the open and unprotected villages in the neighbourhood. The inhabited quarter occupies at present only the south-eastern part of the town between Mount Dalá and the wall, which on this side is closely approached by the dwellings.
On the northern margin of the Jákara is the market-place, forming a large quadrangle, mostly consisting of sheds built in regular rows like streets; but the westernmost part of it forms the slaughtering-place, where numbers of cattle are daily butchered, causing an immense quantity of offal and filth to accumulate, for which there is no other outlet than the all-swallowing Jákara. It is the accumulation of this filth in the most frequented parts of the town which makes it so unhealthy. On the north-east side of the sheds is the camel-market, where also pack-oxen are sold. The shed where the slaves are sold is at the north-west corner; and thence, along the principal street, which traverses the market, is the station of the people who sell firewood. The market is generally immensely crowded during the heat of the day, and offers a most interesting scene.
The wall, just as it has been described by Captain Clapperton, is still kept in the best repair, and is an imposing piece of workmanship in this quarter of the world. This wall, with its gates, I have not been able to lay down with much exactness; but, from my observations on my later visit in 1854, being aware of the great inaccuracy of the little sketch of the town given by Clapperton, who himself pretends only to give an eye-sketch, I thought it worth while, with regard to a place like Kanó (which certainly will at some future period become important even for the commercial world of Europe), to survey and sketch it more minutely; and I hope my plan, together with the view taken from Mount Dalá of the southern and really inhabited quarter of the town, will give a tolerably correct idea of its character.
The market-place is necessarily much less frequented during the rainy season, when most of the people are busy with the labours of the field. A great part of the market-place during that time is even inundated by the waters of the pond Jákara.
I now proceed to enumerate the quarters, the names of which are not without their interest. I must first observe, that the quarters to the north of the great and characteristic pond Jákara, which intersects the town from east to west, are chiefly inhabited by Háusa people, or, as they are called by their conquerors, “Hábe,” from the singular “Kádo,” while the southern quarters are chiefly, but not at all exclusively, inhabited by the Fúlbe (sing. Púllo), called Féllani (sing. ba-Féllanchi) by the conquered race.
Beginning with Dalá, the oldest quarter of the town, and which in commercial respects is the most important one, as it is the residence of almost all the wealthy Arab and Berber (principally Ghadamsíye) merchants, I shall first proceed eastwards, then return by south to west, and so on. East-south-east, the quarter called Déndalin (the esplanade) borders on Dalá, then Kutumbáwa, Gérke, Mádabó, Ya-n-tándu, Adakáwa, Kóki, Zéta, Límanchí (or the quarter of the people of Tóto, a considerable town not far from Fánda); south from the latter, Yandówea, and thence, returning westward, Jibdji-n-Yél-labu, another Límanchí (with a large mosque), Masu-kiyáni (the quarter near the “kaswa” or market-place), Túddu-n-mákera (the quarter of the blacksmiths) on the west side of the market, Yámroché, “Marárraba bókoy” (the seven crossways), “Báki-n-rúa” (the waterside—that is, the quay along the Jákara, not very neat nor fragrant, and in this respect deserving to be compared, with the quays of the Thames, which may be called, just with the same reason, the great sink of London, as the Jákara is that of Kanó, the difference being only that the Thames is a running stream, while the Jákara is stagnant), “Runfáwa” (the quarter of the sheds), Yéllwá. Here, turning again eastwards, we come first to the quarter Ríma-n-jirájiré, then enter Mággoga, then Maggógi, Ungwa-n-kári, Déndali-n-Wáre, Límanchí (a third quarter of this name), Dukkuráwa, Rúffogí, Dérma. All these are quarters of the Hábe, where no Púllo, as far as I am aware, would deign to live. Beyond the Jákara we now come to the quarters of the ruling race, proceeding from west to east.
Yaálewa, Mármara, Ágadesáwa (a quarter belonging originally to the natives of Ágades), Yóla—the princely quarter of the town, and called on this account “mádaki-n-Kanó.” It is interesting also as having given its name to the new capital of Ádamáwa (the natives of Negroland being not less anxious than Europeans to familiarize the new regions which they colonize by names taken from their ancient homes); el Kántara (so called from a rough kind of bridge, or kadárko, thrown over one of those numerous pools which intersect the town), Wuaitákka, Go-shérifé-dodó (a quarter, the name of which is taken from the ancient pagan worship of the “dodó),” Tókobá, Dukkáwa, Zaghidámse, Sháfushí. Returning from east to west we have the quarters Shérbalé, Mádaté, Kúrna, Sheshé, “Dirmí (or dírremi)-kay okú” (called from a tree of the dírremi species, with three separate crowns), Lelóki-n-lemú, Kóllwá al héndeki, Sóra-n-dínki, Rími-n-kóro, Tojí, Yárkasá, Mándáwari, Mármara (different from the quarter mentioned above), Dantúrku, Sabansára, Kudedefáwa, Jingo, Doséyi, Warúre, Gʿao (an interesting name, identical with that of the capital of the Sónghay empire), Kurmáwa, Háusáwa, Ungwa Mákama, Ghaladánchi (the quarter wherein resides the ghaladíma), Shúramchí (the quarter where lives the eldest son of the governor, whose title chiróma—a Kanúri name—in the corrupted form of “shúromo” has furnished the name of the quarter), Ye-serkí, Kurmáwa (not identical with the above), “Kusseráwa” (the corner), Udeláwa. South from the palace of the governor, Rími-n-kerá, Káraká, Dugeráwa, Yákase, Naseráwa (most probably destined to be hereafter the quarter of the Nasára or Christians), and ʿAbdeláwa.