As a matter of fact, there is little. The people waste nothing that can by any possibility be utilised. Cattle are killed in the open market by the Mohamedan priest, and nearly every part goes to a useful purpose: some of the internals are made into strings for musical instruments and from the bones praying beads and other articles are fashioned. Small portions of offal thrown in the appointed places are disputed for by ownerless dogs who wander about and by vultures. Do not shudder at the word vulture and conjure up scenes of battle and men dead and dying. The vulture is quite a useful institution here. In the compound where I live two will perform the office of minor scavengers. So much are the birds esteemed that you kill one at a penalty of £5. Even the clearings where cattle stand is removed by arrangement with the city authorities by persons who buy it either to use in the preparation of cloth dyes or for field manure. To persons going up to Kano—or, for the matter of that, to any part of Northern Nigeria—small money will be a considerable convenience and probably saving. No gold coins circulate although legal tender. A two-shilling piece is rare. If a shilling is given in the market-place for a purchase, more likely than not that the stallkeeper will have to ask several of his neighbours to change it. The threepenny bit and pennies and halfpennies are best for one’s exchequer. The “dash”—i.e., tip—is not the disease it has grown to be in Sierra Leone and Lagos, but tangible recognition of little services rendered is not wasted at Kano, any more than it is elsewhere. Visitors may, however, be reminded that a “dash” is not looked for in Northern Nigeria to the extent it is in Coast towns. For everyday transactions nothing equals the threepenny bit for convenience. It is preferred by sellers. A good supply should be brought up from the bank at Lagos or Forcados. I am now in possession of my second £10 worth. Persons must not rely on obtaining the coin to any extent here nor on the way. Of £25 drawn from the Bank of British West Africa at Zaria, no threepenny bits could be spared for that amount, £50 being the minimum with which they were given and then only to the extent of 2½ per cent. of the sum drawn. I could be given no more than £1 in sixpences, the remaining £24 was in shillings. Both the Manager, Mr Fenn, and the Cashier, Mr Cameron, are always willing to accommodate clients as much as possible, but request for smallest money and for nickel pieces are so many that a scale of proportions has to regulate drawings. [Illustration: A STREET IN KANO.] [Illustration: DOCTOR’S SHOP IN THE MARKET.] CHAPTER XIV SOME ASPECTS OF SOCIAL LIFE Wives of the upper-class—Women and the mosques—Polygamy—Its difficulties in the home-circle—How to maintain peace—Hints on management of the feminine character—A domestic diplomat—Slavery—The former and the present position—Status of a slave.