hen married he had been really good to her, and after one year had
lost his sight. For four years she had stuck to him and tended him and
really loved him, taking him from one native doctor to another, and at
last to me. It was touching to see her gentleness to him and the evident
trust of each in the other. I have never seen such another in the Hausa
country. Yet what possibilities of the future!

Very few girls attain the most elementary standard of education. But
some few _do_ and every facility is provided for those who can and will
go farther, and I have known girls, mostly those whose fathers were
_mallams_, who learned to read and write the Koran well, and who were
considered quite proficient; and at least one case I know of a woman
who, because of her wisdom and education, was entrusted with the rule of
two or three cities in her father's Emirate.

The chief occupations of women are the grinding of corn and the
preparation of food for the family, the care of their babies, who are
slung on their backs, the carrying of water from the well or brook, and,
to some extent in the villages, agriculture, though with the exception
of the poor slaves it is rare to see women overworked in the fields.

They are great traders also, and if not young or too attractive looking,
they are allowed to take their flour, their sweetmeats, etc., to the
markets and trade. Then again when the season for all agricultural work
is at an end, and their husbands and brothers start for the west and the
coast places, for the long wearisome journey which takes them to the
places where they sell their rubber, nitre, and other goods, and bring
back salt, woollen and cotton goods, the women go with them, and it is a
most pretty and interesting sight to see the long row of these young
women, in single file, neatly and modestly dressed, with white overalls
and a load of calabashes and cooking utensils neatly packed and carried
on their heads. They often sing as they march, and coming in at the end
of the day's journey, light the fires and prepare the meal for
themselves and their male relatives, while the latter go and gather the
sticks and grass to make a temporary shelter for the night.

[Illustration: GOING TO MARKET. TWO BURDEN BEARERS]

They are tidy, industrious, and lively, and, to any one who did not
understand their language, these women would give the impression of a
charming picture and of many things good and true. But to one who could