AN AMERICAN DURBAR.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 1 May 1913, Page 7

AN AMERICAN DURBAR.

A remark'iiliie spectacle witnessed <iiii January at Tuitio, 'the' groat trading centre of .Northern Nigeria. H iy.only 10 years th 6 Bfitish occupied this city, which has a population of 100,(MX), and iw r.,f immense importance politically as -ft'Sll as commercially, and the durbar helfl by Sir Frederick Lugard was deeply interesting, as showing the hold of the conquerars ow the new territory. A review was first held on the plain, >Y.hei;e the emirs and 1 chiefs with their retfl&wrs were drawn up in an oval one anvl a quarter miles in circumference. The horsemen alone mumbered from' 1-5,,000 to •!■!),OdO, while there were also prcisihft a willtitude of footmen. After an- inspection of the British troops, who; to the number of ov«ir 800, were'dnr.vp up in the centre of this vast and imposing throng, each emir with his followers marched past "the Governo'rV §tahd. Some of the horsemen from distant Bornu were clad in chain armour. Other emirs were attended by their N Oourt jesters in fantastic garb, who capered and danced around their chiefs. The horses were in gorgeous trappings of gold. Following the horseman came contingents of almost nude natives dancing yelling, and brandishing clubs m a frenzy of delight. That these should have left their fastnesses and come unarmed to the gathering was (says the ard) neither possible nor conceivable a few years ago. When this remarkable procession had passed, each) "emir, with a selected following, saluted the Governor. In turn they charged in a whirlwind of dust and drew up within a few fec-t of Sir Frederick Lugard. The emirs then dismounted and bowing their face* to the ground greeted the new Governor. The spectacle of SOO British troops, and natives at that, representing the dominant race in the midst of these thousands of horsemen must have been impressive.' The British occupation has made • many changes in Kano. When Sir Frederick first visitor]' the Emir cf Kanos prison there, it was a veritable Black Hole of Calcutta. Over a hundred prisoners were imprisoned in two small rooms, victims were crushed to death every night, and the stench was intolerable. On the day of , the durbar he visited the Emir's i prison again, and declared it to bt» a mode] building for West Africa. J In place of the old filthy marketplace, covered stalls have been erect- j ed, and Sir Frederick says lie has never seen so clean a market in any t native Africa and Asia.