HOUSSA is the name of an extensive portion of Central Africa, which, along with Bornou, bears the general name of Soudan, or Land of the Blacks. It consists of various petty kingdoms or states, which occupy territory stretching east and west from the upper course of the Yeou nearly to the Niger, but the boundaries of which on the south and north are imperfectly defined. This region appears in several respects to be superior to the countries on either side of it. It is less sultry, an advantage which it probably owes to its higher elevation. The face of the country bears marks of greater cultivation, the fields being covered with large crops of wheat, two of which are annually produced; and, to prevent the grain from being destroyed by insects, it is secured in granaries raised on poles. The soil is well watered by the river Q,uarrama or Zirmie, which, with several tributaries, flows westward to join the Niger. On its eastern quarter it is traversed by the Yeou, and on its southern by the Shary or Tschadda, which also falls into the Niger. Besides these natural supplies of water, artificial irrigation is diligently practised. The predominant people here are the Fellatahs, of whom we shall afterwards speak.

From information afforded by Major Denham, who travelled in this region of Africa, it appears that Houssa is divided into seven provinces or states, to each of which a prince or petty governor was appointed under the Fellatahs, the inhabitants all speaking one language. Over the whole a sultan holds supreme rule. The most fertile province is Kano, the most extensive is Zegzeg, the most warlike Ghoober and Zamfra, which two countries seem to constitute one province under the rule of the Fellatahs; the central province is Kashna or Kassina. Three others, [7:11:709]of which our information is very indistinct, are designated Dor or Dowry, Ranoo, and Yarcem. Captain Clapperton mentions a province called Guari, which may correspond to Yareem; and the same traveller speaks of Doura, in immediate connection with the southern part of Zegzeg, as if bordering on it. Another province is called Kotongra or Kotongkora, which may correspond to Ranoo.

Kano, the capital of a province of the same name, and the principal commercial city of Houssa, is situated in latitude 12° 0' 19" north, and longitude 9° 20' east. It may contain between 30,000 and 40,000 inhabitants, of whom a great proportion are slaves. This number is exclusive of strangers, who crowd thither during the dry months from all parts of Africa. The city is of an irregular oval shape, about fifteen miles in circumference, and surrounded by a clay wall thirty feet in height, having a dry ditch on both sides of it. There arc fourteen gates made of wood, and covered with sheet iron, and these arc regularly opened and shut at sunrise and sunset. A platform inside, with two guard-houses below it, serves to defend each entrance. The houses within the walls do not occupy more than one fourth of the ground enclosed, the remaining space being laia out in fields and gardens. The city is almost divided into two parts by a large morass, which stretches from east to west. This swamp is crossed by a small neck of land, which is overflowed during the rainy season, but in the dry season the market is held upon it. On account of this morass, and also of the many pools of stagnant water made by digging clay for building houses, the city is rendered very unhealthy. Captain Clapperton thus describes the houses of K¢no.

“They are built of clay, and are mostly of a square form, in the Moorish fashion, with a central room, the roof of which is supported by the trunks of palm-trees, where visitors and strangers are received. The apartments of the ground-floor open into this hall of audience, and are generally used as store-rooms. A staircase leads to an open gallery overlooking the hall, and serving as a passage to the chambers of the second story, which are lighted with small windows. In a back court-yard there is a well and other conveniences. Within the enclosure in which the house stands, there are also a few round huts of clay, roofed with the stalks of Indian corn, and thatched with long grass. These are usually very neat and clean, and of a much larger size than those of Bornou. The governor’s residence covers a large space, and resembles a walled village. It even contains a mosque, and several towers three or four stories high, with windows in the European style, but without glass or frame-work. It is necessary to pass through two of these towers in order to gain the suite of inner apartments occupied by the governor.”

The great market, as already observed, is held upon a neck of land which intersects the morass. Here streets consisting of sheds or stalls of bamboo are regularly arranged, different places being allotted to those who traffic in different commodities. The latter consist of cattle, vegetables, fruits, the fine cotton fabrics of the country, goora or kolla nuts, which are called African coffee, and crude antimony, with which every eyebrow in Houssa is dyed. The Arabs also dispose of sundry commodities, such as cast-off dresses. The slaves, who constitute the staple article of trade, have a special market appropriated to them, consisting of two long ranges of sheds, one for males and the other for females. Here these poor creatures, drawn up in regular array, and dressed in attractive attire, are inspected and scrutinized by purchasers, in much the same manner as horses are in the cattle-markets of this country. The market of Kano is under the superintendence of a sheik, who regulates the police, and is said also to possess the exorbitant power of fixing the prices. The medium of exchange consists of the small shells called cowries, four hundred and eighty of which make a shilling, so that paying a large sum is here rather a tedious process. Kano is celebrated all over Central Africa for the dyeing of cloth, for which process there are numerous establishments. Some ingenuity, is displayed in the manufacture of leathern jars, which are fashioned upon a clay mould out of the raw hide. The inhabitants are also acquainted with the art of tanning. The negroes here are very polite and ceremo nious, especially to those advanced in years. A part of the city is appropriated to the use of those who are afflicted with blindness, which is a prevalent disease.

Adjoining the province of Kano on the west there is a portion of territory called Katagum, which is said by Captain Clapperton to be a distinct province. According to that traveller, it is able to send into the field 4000 horse and 20,000 foot, armed with bows, swords, and spears. The city is built in the form of a square, the sides facing the cardinal points of the compass, with four corresponding gates, which are regularly opened and shut like those of Kano. It is defended by two walls, which have ditches on each side, and one between them. The governor and principal inhabitants have houses made entirely of clay. They are flat roofed, and sometimes consist of two stories, with square or semicircular openings for windows. The city may contain from 7000 to 8000 inhabitants. There are other towns comprised within the boundaries of this province, but none requiring particular description. Many parts of Katagum are highly cultivated, and laid out in plantations of cotton, tobacco, and indigo, which are separated from one another by rows of date-trees, and shaded by large umbrageous trees.

The next considerable town is Soccatoo, situated nearly at the western extremity of Houssa. The country which lies between Kano and Soccatoo is remarkably fine, and under high cultivation. It is diversified with forests of noble trees, and various rivers and streams, and traversed by picturesque ridges of granite, amongst which villages are romantically situated.

Soccatoo stands in latitude 13° 4' 52" north, and longitude 6° 12' E. “It occupies,” says Captain Clapperton, “a long ridge which slopes gently towards the north, and appeared to me the most populous town I had visited in the interior of Africa; for, unlike most other towns in Houssa, where the houses are thinly scattered, it is laid out in regular well-built streets. The houses approach close to the walls, which were built by the present sultan in 1818, after the death of his father; the old walls being too confined for the increasing population. This wall is between twenty and thirty feet high, and has twelve gates, which are regularly closed at sunset. There are two large mosques, including the new one at present building by the Gadado, besides several other places for prayer. There is a spacious market-place in the centre of the city, and another large square in front of the sultan’s residence. The dwellings of the principal people arc surrounded with high walls, which enclose numerous coozees and flat-roofed houses, built in the Moorish style, whose large waterspouts of baked clay, projecting from the eaves, resemble at first sight a tier of guns. The inhabitants are principally Fellatahs, possessing numerous slaves. Such of the latter as are not employed in domestic duties reside in houses by themselves, where they follow various trades; the master, of course, reaping the profit. Their usual employments are weaving, house-building, shoe-making, and iron work: many bring fire-wood to the market foi sale. Those employed in raising grain and tending cattle, of which the Fcllatahs have immense herds, reside in villages without the city. It is customary for private individuals to free a number of slaves every year, according to their means, during the great feast after the Ra [7:11:710]madan. The enfranchised seldom return to their native country, but continue to reside near their old masters, still acknowledging them as their superiors, and presenting them yearly with a portion of their earnings. The trade of Soccatoo is at present inconsiderable, owing to the disturbed state of the surrounding country. The necessaries of life are very cheap; butcher-meat is in great plenty, and very good. The exports are principally civet, and blue check tobes called sharie, which are manufactured by the slaves from Nyffee, of whom the men are considered as the most expert weavers in Soudan, and the women as the best spinners. The common imports are brought from the borders of Ashantee; and coarse calico and woollen cloth, in small quantities, with brass and pewter dishes, and some few spices, from Nyffee. The Arabs, from Tripoli and Ghadamis, bring unwrought silk, ottar of roses, spices, and beads. Slaves are both exported and imported. A great quantity of Guinea corn is taken every year by the Tuaricks, in exchange for salt. The market is extremely well supplied, and is held daily from sunrise· to sunset. On the north side of Soccatoo there is a low marsh, with some stagnant pools of water, between the city and the river: this, perhaps, may be the cause of the great prevalence of ague, as the city stands in a fine airy situation.”

Subsequently to the writing of the above description, nearly two thirds of the city were destroyed by a conflagration; but when Clapperton visited it a second time, it had been rebuilt, in a manner so closely resembling what it had formerly been, that little alteration could be perceived. The palace, or house of the sultan, forms a sort of enclosed town, with an open quadrangle in front. A painted and ornamented cottage constitutes the hall of audience. Soccatoo is likely to decline, on account of the residence of the court having of late been transferred to Magaria.

The countries of Ghoober and Zamfra or Zanfara are inhabited by a rude and warlike race, who have sometimes assumed authority over Houssa, and are at present, or were lately, in open rebellion against Soccatoo. The people are a species of outlaws or robbers, and the high road between Kano and Soccatoo passing through their territory, merchants can only travel between the two cities in numerous armed bodies. Coonia, the capital of Ghoober, is strongly fortified, and in 1829 repulsed the whole military force of Houssa, consisting of 50,000 or 60,000 men. Zirmie, the capital of Zamfra, occupies a peninsula formed by the river Quarrama, which has here very high and steep banks covered with mimosas and prickly bushes, through which a narrow path winds to the gates. It is surrounded with a clay wall and a dry ditch. The governor of this stronghold bears the character of a freebooter, and the inhabitants, whom Clapperton represents as having a reckless independent look, are esteemed the greatest rogues in all Houssa. Runaway slaves from all quarters make Zirmie an asylum, where they are always well received.

To the north of Kano lies the considerable province of Kashna or Kassina, which at one period held supreme sway over all Houssa, and which has recently shaken off the yoke of Soccatoo. Kashna, the capital, is situated in lat. 12. 59. N. on a ridge of sienite, one of a number of ridges of this rock which run from north-north-east to south-south-west. The walls are of clay, and very extensive; but, as in the case of Kano, the houses do not occupy above one tenth of the ground enclosed, the rest being laid out in fields, and covered with wood. The houses are mostly in ruins, the principal commerce of the country having been transferred to Kano since the Fellatah power became predominant. Notwithstanding its abject state, it has nevertheless a considerable trade, which is carried on with the Tuaricks, or with caravaps coming across the desert by the route of Ghadamis and Tuat. The manufactures of Kashna are chiefly of leather, such as water-skins, red or yellow cushions, bridles of goat-εkin, and hides. There is likewise some trade in fruits, such as figs, melons, pomegranates, and limes.

To the south of Soccatoo and Kano lies the country of Zegzeg, one of the finest in all Africa, and the most extensive province in Houssa. It is bounded on the east by Kano, on the south-east by Yacoba, on the south by a mountainous tract inhabited by Pagans, on the south-west by Nyffee, and on the north and west by Guari and Kashna. Travellers represent Zegzegas resembling in appearance the finest parts of England, being beautifully variegated with hill and dale, over which are spread rich pastures and extensive fields, yielding plentiful crops, particularly of rice. Zaria, the capital, is situated in lat. 10. 59. N. and long. 8. 42. E. It occupies a great extent of ground, the houses being detached, or rather clustered together in small villages, which are separated from each other by corn fields, and even woods. The whole is surrounded with high clay walls, and the population has been estimated at about 50,000. To the south of Zegzeg, the country, though diversified by rising grounds, is fertile and well cultivated, and contains a number of considerable towns. Lander describes Cuttup as consisting of “nearly five hundred villages almost joining each other, occupying a vast and beautiful plain, adorned with the finest trees. Among these, the plantain, the palm, and the cocoa-nut tree were seen flourishing in great abundance, and the aspect of the country strikingly resembled some parts of Yariba. A considerable traffic is carried on here in slaves and bullocks, which are alike exposed, in the daily market. The bullocks are bred by the Fellatahs, who reside here for no other purpose. Among the other articles brought here for sale, are red cloth, gum, salt, goora-nuts, trona, beads, tobacco, native cloth, rings, needles, cutlery, honey, rice, and milk; people from the most distant parts resorting hither in vast numbers.” To the south of this place stretch a range of hills, which, Lander was told, were inhabited by a ferocious race of yamyams or cannibals, who a short time previously had killed and eaten a whole caravan-full of people. In a country fertile, but rocky, is situated Dunrora, a town containing about 4000 inhabitants. Not far from this place is a large town called Jacoba, which was described to Lander as standing on the river Shary; whilst farther to the east, on the same stream, there was said to be situated another large city called Adamowa; and here our knowledge of this portion of Africa becomes scanty and imperfect.

In the western tracts of Houssa there are few towns of any importance: these were visited, and have been described, by Captain Clapperton. After leaving Boogawa, a small town in the province of Katagum, and passing first through a thickly-wooded tract, and then over an open, well-cultivated country, this traveller reached Katungwa, a walled town. A range of low rocky hills was seen stretching nearly south-west, called Dooshee (the rocks), from which a large town takes its name. These were the first rocks that had occurred after leaving the southern borders of the Great Desert, the whole country thus far being soft alluvial clay. Near the extremity of the Dooshee hills is situated Zangeia, within the walls of which town there is a ridge of loose blocks of stone connected with the range. These masses of rock are about 200 feet in height, and give a romantic appearance to the neat huts clustering round the base, and to the fine plantations of cotton, tobacco, and indigo, and the rows of date and other trees. From the extensive walls which remain, Zangeia must have once been a very large town. Now, however, it consists merely of a collection of thinly-scattered hamlets. The country between this place and Kano is highly cultivated, and beautifully diversified by hill and [7:11:711]dale. Captain Clapperton passed several walled towns, the principal of which was Girkwa. As in the other towns already described, the houses here are in groups, with large intervening vacancies. The disproportion in the size of the Avails of towns and the number of houses, to the amount of inhabitants, Avhich is exhibited in many parts of Houssa, is to be accounted for by the usurpation of the country by the Fellatahs, who generally massacred the former occupants, or carried them aAvay captives. To complete our description of Houssa, it will be necessary to give an account of this singular people, who are gradually extending their authority over Central Africa.

By the most correct accounts, it would appear that the Fellatahs are an off-shoot from the Foolahs of Western Africa, and may be identified Avith them. They are a mixture of Moors, Arabs, Berbers, and probably other races of men. They are much superior to the native negroes, Avith whom they very rarely mix their blood. Captain Lyon, speaking of the Fellatahs, observes, “their complexion being of a much lighter hue than that of the other tribes, they call themselves white ,∙ their colour resembles that of our gypsies in England. Many female slaves are brought to Mourzouk from their nation, and are very handsome women.” Other observers describe their complexion as being very dark, and of a shade intermediate betAveen that of the deepest African and the Moors. The fact seems to be, that their colour varies in a very remarkable manner, from being nearly white to nearly black. Both men and women pay considerable attention to their dress, which amongst the wealthy inhabitants is rather showy. In their domestic habits they are regular, orderly, and cleanly, and the slaves are generally well treated. The Mahommedan is the predominant religion, and considerable attention is paid to keeping up an appearance of it. Prayers are regularly said five times a day in the Arabic language, which both the male and female children of the better sort of Fellatahs are taught to read and Avrite. Their marriages are celebrated without any pomp or noise, and such contracts are of a less arbitrary nature than Ave find them to be amongst the inferior races of mankind. Captain Clappenton makes the following remarks regarding Houssa :—“The government of the Fellatahs in Soudan is in its infancy. The governors of the different provinces are appointed during pleasure; and all their property, on their death or removal, falls to the sultan. The appointment to a vacancy is sold to the highest bidder, who is generally a near relation, provided that his property is sufficient to enable him to bid up to the mark. All the inferior offices in the tθAvns are sold in like manner by the governors, who also succeed to the property of those petty officers at their death or removal. In the province of Kano they have no regular system of taxation. A great deal of marketable property is claimed by the governor, such as two thirds of the produce of all the date-trees and other fruit-trees, the proprietor being allowed only the remaining third. A small duty is also levied on every article sold in the market; or, in lieu thereof, a certain rent is paid for the stall or shed. A duty is also fixed on every to be that is dyed blue, and sold. On grain there is no duty. Kano produces the greatest revenue that the sultan receives; it is paid monthly, in horses, cloth, and coAvries. AdamoAva pays yearly in slaves; Yacoba in slaves and lead ore; Zegzeg in slaves and coav- ries; Zamfra the same; Hadiga, and Katagum, and Za-onima in horses, bullocks, and slaves; Kashna in slaves, cowries, and cloth; Ader, or Tadela, in bullocks, sheep, camels, and a coarse kind of cotton cloth, like Avhat is called by us a counterpane.” Of the number of negroes and Fellatahs who inhabit the country of Houssa no correct idea can be formed. (r. R. R.)