Bukuru men are excellent horsemasters. The appearance and condition of the animals are better than those belonging to Hausas elsewhere and are equal to any except the very best kept by Englishmen. Horses belonging to others which were lame or would not thrive have been taken by the Bukuru people, who returned the animals in first-class health and fettle. They will not disclose the details of their methods. One includes hot water drunk by the horse and another is that of salt and other ingredients made into a ball which the animal is forced to swallow.
The Pagan hunt is a mild performance. It takes place in the dry season. The high grass is burnt and the flames beaten out when sufficient space has been cleared. Some distance from the clearance the grass is again fired, whilst the huntsmen, waiting on their ponies for the rats and lizards which dart out, spear the vermin. A few small, bush deer are obtained in the same way. A free fight is not an uncommon wind-up to the hunt.
The folks of Bukuru are people of few words, signs being largely used instead of speaking, though, estimating from the number of wives acquired in some quarters, I should say that the language of love must be an extremely easy dialect.
To express “No” in the sense of there being none, the right forefinger is brought past, touching, the lips, at which the slightest semblance to a whistling sound is made.
“I do not know,” such as the answer to where a person is for whom the questioned individual has regard, is replied to by raising the shoulders.
“I do not know and I do not care” is conveyed by the open hands and the forearm at right-angle to the upper limb.
Answer respecting the age of anyone not the person questioned is made by the fist held vertically at a distance from the ground, indicating the height of the individual, from which illustration the age has to be gauged. The people have no sense of calculation beyond four or five years.