Show ly ilk 4 4 AV TV t A big task for a hairdresser sr prepared by tho the national geographic society washington D Q C service mandate of came athe roun africa Is astonishing the city stands upon a hill ar and Is surrounded by an fla elaborate borate system of ancient trench fortifications dating crating from the years of the raiders the trees which have been planted along every street give it a wooded effect wholly absent among the neighboring grass meadows one has an immediate impression of order prosperity civilization many of the houses of are of sun dried brick and are roofed with native tiles or grass thatch the compound fences are neatly constructed the market made of brick and we tile Is modern in type and perfectly clean at the center of the town Is an imposing three story structure set to in the midst of elaborate gardens it Is the palace of naoya sultan of the damour and overlord ot of Foum ban everything order brides bricks and garden is indigenous existed when the white man was no more than a myth even now dow outside influences haic touched it only slightly the sultan and the majority ot of his people are edans in accordance with the curious rule that people of the african deserts ant and prairies readily adopted mohammedanism and that the people of the african forests almost invariably did not the camous scarcely recall a time when their life was not strongly influenced by the arabic belief in the center of the town facing the sultans palace is the mosque a frame building of strongly moorish type even to the vertical stripes of red and white paint here every friday the elite of the Barn badouin gather Sub chiefs are a proud lot the many ngi or of the tribe some gome of whom exert far more real power than the sultan himself come to in from their districts bringing with will them a string of dependents they make a striking picture nearly all aristocrats of the plateau ride horseback and dress in immense flowing robes covered with bright embroidery brol dery some swathe their heads in white or blue turbans others wear the characteristic floppy straw lint hat of the eulah cattle herders gerders her ders all have an air of faintly contemptuous majesty they the rulers they fondly think are the pureblood pure blood conquerors from the north and therefore the superiors of the indigenous peoples with whom they have merged As a matter of facts fact little littie trace of the arab strain remains certainly so far south as Foum ban the bayoum Cani oum except for unusual stature and the occasional appearance of an isolated straight featured type are distinctly ne negroid grold tile ngi when they come to town are followed according to their rank by greater or less entourages several male members of his family usually accompany the angl also mounted the horses are richly caparisoned caparison ed in red and green grecu leather the men carry elaborate spears with shafts of hardwood and tips of silver or native bronze behind comes an inconspicuous rabble of wives usually well laden with produce for sale at the weekend week end M market ark et and several depressed looking burros not quite as heavily laden as the women while the ceremony at the mosque Is to in session the women and burros sit respectfully about outside when the men come out Foum bin stirs with unaccustomed activity an activity which continues until the country people stray away home late the following day markets are picturesque all sorts of produce are spread out in the market there are leather boots scabbards and decorated harness superb pieces of Bawo uni embroidery rolls of homespun cotton cloth carved wooden household articles of every every it description hardly less picturesque la is the food market first of all there are thousands of ears of fine indian corn it grows everywhere on the plateau more special delicacies range all the way from roasted termites eggs to crocodile steaks things of considerably less interest to a white traveler more than a thousand people attend die market the sounds sights and smells of vigorous native trading give an impression of thriving continuing african life such as one scarcely senses among the less developed forest types particularly among the dreary half invalid creatures crea turca of the jungle of Kout southern herD the favorable cil ciliate mate the mixture of types and awe ill its the remoteness of the cor influences of whito white civilization clearly show their effect by sunday morning the peasants have for the most part gone away their produce sold or favorably exchanged the file aristocrats however remain at the slIg slightest hest provocation they will arrange a parade a sham war anything to vary the monotony of isolated tribal life E even ven the presence of white strangers for whom the rules of the plateau have great toleration but very scant respect will serve for an excuse one sunday noon recently a traveler learned that word went forth that a play had been arranged the eight whites then in Foum ban only three of whom resided there permanently sat with sultan naoya in chairs at one end of the town square the riders musicians singers standard bearers and buffoons made ready at the other the play running true to the type of innumerable similar displays that take place in the larger towns of the high prairie began with an orderly procession of all the men drums fifes cifes horns of many kinds and stran stringed ed instruments came in the first rank playing war warlike litte refrains before them danced somersaulted somersault ed and grimaced several clowns roal jesters attached to the sultans court in much the same position held by the court jesters of medieval europe standard bearers and a rabble of singers brought up the rear the end of the square reached the m barchers marchers mar a chers formed irregular lines at elther either elm eim side and spears and standards lifted shouted greeting to the horsemen me n who followed charge of the horsemen the square of Fou roban Is narrow and blittle a little more than yards long iong it was of a golden tropical summer the vividly green trees that skirted the plaza and the bright red earth peculiar to the district made a perfect setting tho the horsemen numbered more than and each was gowned in flowing robes embroidered broi dered in every imaginable bright color all carried either spears or long flintlock rifles lifted menacingly above the their ir heads beads there was a great shout and from the distance the spurred horses bore down upon the spectators at full gallop the dusts dust the flashing spears the wild cries and the blazing colors lade made a thrilling sight in another instant the small helpless group of whites were cold with terror for the charge neither turned no nor r abated there was no time to move when less than 6 feet away each man shouted stood up in his stirrups and reined in every horse rose up on its hind legs forefeet kicking pl pi and the une line swept away at the right angle the cruel hausa bit an iron circle that rings the horses tongue and holds in its upper side a sharp prong that gouges the animals flesh when the r rein eln Is pulled had proved its effectiveness later in the afternoon after the play took the form of a series of weird traditional dit ional lonal dances performed in masks these masks a fine collection of which may be seen in the private museum of su sultan itan naoya are of copper or wood or a combination of the two materials many though deliberately grotesque 6 show how rare sculptural ability some are enormous some ridiculously small others have the shape of animals heads horses borses ba boons crocodiles etc sultan and his museum one of the most unusual things in Is the museum of sultan naoya but naoya a mag magnificent 0 6 fo foot ot black chieftain with the smile of a nice baby Is an unusual man ue he Is himself for one thing the inventor of one of the only two written alphabets all known own to have been produced produce il in neg ro africa a phonetic alphabet which apparently parent ly has nothing in common with any other on the earth the museum occupies a long room a at t the top of the palace it contains contain a collection of carVI carving Dg bronzes spears beadwork brass jewelry embroideries aud and textiles for which the curator of any ethnological museum would give an arm naoya has bas gathered the things because tie he admires them and because he takes pride in every tradition of his people lie in other words civilization has nut not penetrated with its teaching that a all 11 things not dot manufactured in europe are arc therefore contemptible it must be added that the french government m resident aident at Foum ban ba M quer devotedly and charmingly upholds naoya in his point of view |