Besides the cloth produced and dyed in Kanó and in the neighbouring villages, there is a considerable commerce carried on here with the cloth manufactured in Nýffi or Núpe, which, however, extends only to the first and the third of the articles above mentioned, viz. the “ríga,” or shirt worn by men, and the “zénne,” or plaid; for the Nyffáwa are unable to produce either túrkedí or ráwaní—at least for export, while they seem, with the exception of the wealthier classes, to supply their own wants themselves. The tobes brought from Nýffi are either large black ones, or of mixed silk and cotton.
With regard to the former, which are called “gíwa” (the elephant’s shirt), I am unable to say why the Kanáwa are not capable of manufacturing them themselves; but it seems that, while they thoroughly understand how to impart the most beautiful dye to the túrkedí, they are unable to apply the same to the ríga—I do not know why.
Of the latter kind there are several varieties: the ríga sáki, the small squares blue and white, as if speckled, and therefore called by the Arabs “fílfil” (pepper), and by the Tuarek, who, as I have mentioned, esteem it more than any other kind, the “Guinea-fowl shirt” (tekátkat taílelt), as shown in [the woodcut on page 301], is very becoming, and was my ordinary dress from the moment I was rich enough to purchase it, as a good one fetches as much as from eighteen to twenty thousand kurdí; then the tob-harír, with stripes of speckled cast like the taílelt, but intermixed with red; the jellába, red and white, with embroidery of green silk, and several others. Specimens of all these I have brought home and delivered to the Foreign Office.[28]
The chief articles of native industry, besides cloth, which have a wide market, are principally sandals. The sandals are made with great neatness, and, like the cloth, are exported to an immense distance; but being a cheap article (the very best, which are called “táka-sárakí,” fetching only two hundred kurdí), they bear of course no comparison in importance with the former. I estimate this branch at ten millions. It is very curious that the shoes made here by Arab shoemakers, of Sudán leather, and called “bélghʿa,” are exported in great quantities to North Africa. The “nesísa,” or twisted leather strap, is a celebrated article of Kanó manufacture, and “jebíras,” richly ornamented, as [the woodcut on page 303] shows, are made by Arab workmen.
The other leather-work I will not mention here, as it does not form a great article of commerce; but tanned hides (“kulábu”) and red sheepskins, dyed with a juice extracted from the stalks of the holcus, are not unimportant, being sent in great quantities even as far as Tripoli. I value the amount of export at about five millions.[29]
Besides these manufactures, the chief article of African produce in the Kanó market is the “gúro,” or kola-nut: but while on the one hand it forms an important article of transit, and brings considerable profit, on the other large sums are expended by the natives upon this luxury, which has become to them as necessary as tea or coffee to us. On another occasion I shall enumerate the different kinds of this nut, and the seasons when it is collected. The import of this nut into Kanó, comprising certainly more than five hundred ass-loads every year, the load of each, if safely brought to the market—for it is a very delicate article, and very liable to spoil—being sold for about two hundred thousand kurdí, will amount to an average of from eighty to one hundred millions. Of this sum, I think we shall be correct in asserting about half to be paid for by the natives of the province, while the other half will be profit.
But we must bear in mind that the greater part of the persons employed in this trade are Kanáwa, and that therefore they and their families subsist upon this branch of trade.
A very important branch of the native commerce in Kanó is certainly the slave-trade; but it is extremely difficult to say how many of these unfortunate creatures are exported, as a greater number are carried away by small caravans to Bórnu and Núpe than on the direct road to Ghát and Fezzán. Altogether, I do not think that the number of slaves annually exported from Kanó exceeds five thousand; but of course a considerable number are sold into domestic slavery either to the inhabitants of the province itself, or to those of the adjoining districts. The value of this trade, of which only a small percentage falls to the profit of the Kanáwa, besides the tax which is levied in the market, may altogether amount to from a hundred and fifty to two hundred millions of kurdí per annum.