Evening star., 1922-03-07
KATSENA IS CALLED
"R0ME OF TROPICS
Spot in Northern Nigeria
Supports Population as
Dense as England's.

Dense as England's.
"A Rome of the tropics. peopled
by the Israelites Of Africa, center Of
farming region which supports q
population as dense as that. of Eng
stuffs-such is Katsena. in northern
Nigeria, which recently has been fire.
quently mentioned because Its emir
visited London and also because of
surveys of Lake Chad, northeastern
limit of the IAIausa states" says
bulletin from the Washington head
quarters of the National Geographic
Society.
"A civilization may be incongruous
In contrast to another, and yet not
be as primitive as the strangeness
of its customs would Indicate, the
bulletin continues. "The Emir OF
katSena Is reported to have Eazed
in amazement at an airplane. to have
wondered at the parsimony of rich
nation which didSnot provide servants
to wave large fans over their rulers
head so he might not be annoyed by
flies. and to have so heartily approved
one northern luxury that he pur-
chased a brass bed to be sent to
Have Guilds and Crusades.
yet if he found time to read any
English history while in London the
emir must have been interested in
European guild system which per-
sists In the industrial Organization of
his own province to this day, and
in the crusades which have their an
nual counterpart in the Moham-
medan exodus from his capital to
Mecca, a journey of five or six years,
during which the pilgrims combine
religious objective with advanta-
way.
LAS a state Katsena has been swal-
lowed up in the province of kano. in
northern Nigeria, due east Of Lake
Chad and about half way between
that marsh-bound inland sea and the
Niger. AS city it has shriveled with
in it's mighty walls. as high as
three-story building and thirteen
miles in circuit
1.-The city Of Kano has outdistanced
Katsena and become the Chicago OF
this fertile region Of grain, cotton.
giant vegetables and luscious fruits.
and also Of indigenously developed in
dustries that range from cloth making
to manufacture of glass. But katsena
still is the cultural center OF the
Hausa peoples whose tongue Is the
most mellifiuous of north Africa and
50 rich in its vocabulary that you may
find words for eight periods Of the
day from sunrise until sunset. Hausa
is the trade language of the area be-
tween the Benue, the Niger and the
Sahara, and it is one of the few Afri-
can tongues, which have develope" q
native literature.
Hausa Ruled by Fula Chiefs.
1A nd
farming and their comparative liter
ary superiority over their negritic
.neighbors do not extend to govern
ment. so that they are ruled today oy
the FulsaS, a people without a co0n-
try. who generally have dominated
conquer. The Fula chiefs. In turn.
pay allegiance to Great Britain, which
exercises a protectorate over Nigeria.
During the Fula siege of Katsena,
which began in 1907 and lasted for
seven years. the inhabitants faced
and snakes sometimes were sold In
the market places. After the con-
quest the Fulas destroyed records and
documents, which, If they now could
be had, might throw more light on the
origin of the ancient Hausa tribes.
Story Of Seven Sons.
1.-The native historian will tell you
inal Hausa family, each of whom had
a specific duty. One was to defend
the family, another to do its dyeing.
another to engage in tradtng-and
this trader was katsena. Further
more, there were seven illegitimate'
Hausa version. were the founders
of certain other tribes on the lower
Niger and along the Benue, which
the Hausa consider greatly inferior.
Even the most extreme styles
which may have been noted by the
must have seemed overdressing, but
the use of cosmetics certainly was
nothing new to him. For the Hausa
maid carries in her native vanity
box tiny brushes of bark, frayed at
the ends, with which she applies blue
wears a permanent Identification scar
to denote her tribe, that for the Kat
sena women being six strokes ana
dot.
Takes Time to Say "Hello!"
"SalutatIons often furnish key to
the character Of a people. Both the
leisurely quality of Katsena life and
the value placed on various posses
sions. are suggested in a greeting
health of tine stranger. then about his
wives. his morse, his cattle and all
that is yours After each reply the
interrogator reiterates. Allah be
praised for that! before putting the
next question.
What base ball Is to America and
the bullfight is to Spain the wrest-
ling match is to the Hausa tribes
Perhaps this sundown spectacle might
better be compared to horse show.
For the wreStlerS must compete for
attention with the bizarre and bar
baric color splashes represented by
turbans and bernouses and coinures
of what we would call rated hair.
against background of statuesQue
camels- and palm trees. The over
tone of the entire picture is the
bronze brown of hundreds Of haalf.
nude SPECTATORS