BUDGET 1

Vincent Kwangha and Elizabeth-Bika

Vincent Kwangha of Djem Compound is in his fifties. He and his wife, Elizabeth-
Bika, have been Roman Catholics for 25 years. His eldest son, Maurice, is a teacher
in a mission school some 15 miles away. Maurice occasionally assists his parents with
gifts of oil and meat, as well as paying part of the school fees for his two younger
brothers, and making presents in cash to his father. The boys who attend school are
Felix and Laurence. They return home for weekends, and food is sent to them at the
school during the week. Felix trades in his holidays and pays for half his own fees and
clothes, besides making an occasional gift to his brothers and sisters. During my
absence from Kimbaw, from 28th February to 17th September, he kept the budgets
of his father and of Kengeran, a wife of the Fai. Elizabeth-Bika never trades and, if
she requires anything, asks her husband for the money. With the help of her mother.
Diy (who lives in a compound about one mile away), and of her adolescent daughter,
Regina, she cultivates 4 acres. Regina only sold very small quantities of farm produce;
but during the period she frequently disposed of pears and plantains for her father, and
sometimes groundnuts for her brother, Felix. In addition to the members of the house-
hold already mentioned there are a young daughter (who occasionally stays with her
married sister and acts as nursemaid), a small boy aged about 4 years, and a grand-
daughter of about the same age.
Vincent Kwangha trades locally in kolas, but ekes out his income by the sale of
thatching-grass, firewood, fowls and coffee-seedlings. The budget set out above was
recorded over a full year.

NOTES

(a) Vincent, like many people in Kimbaw, rarely bought soap of European manufacture.
His wife gave ashes regularly to a Hausa woman, who gave her in return about 1/2d. worth
of Hausa soap (sabulu) every 8 days.

(b) Vincent's son, Maurice, had a bush lamp and occasionally Vincent bought very small
quantities of kerosene for it.

(c) At Christmas in 1946 Vincent had bought his wife a dress and headtie from his accumulated
savings, and so did not buy her anything else during the year under review. In February
he bought cloth for himself, and in July he bought a sweater for 17s. and khaki trousers
for 14s., but actually could only afford 10s. from his own savings. His son, Maurice, had
cooked djanggi (for which Vincent himself provided 9d. worth of wine) and he said his father
could use some of the money to pay the balance on the clothes. Vincent, being a scrupulous
man, refrained from wearing them until he had repaid his debt to his son. This was not
until about the 17th January 1948. The budget tabulated above is only until the 10th
February, but I have records until the 27th. It is worth noting that, on the 27th February
1948, Vincent sold his two sweaters (one for 17s. and the other for 16s.). He bought a
Munshi cloth for 8s. for his daughter, Regina, and used the balance or rather 22s. as a part-
payment on a secondhand military overcoat. During the year some of his other children
received gifts from their mother's mother and brothers (see notes (t) and (v) below),

(d) For six months of the year under review Vincent paid in cash for the contribution cards of
himself and Elizabeth. In the other six months both he and Elizabeth worked at the
Mission in order to meet their commitment.

(e) In addition to the odd copper and halfpenny Vincent also gave 6d. to the collection on the
occasion of the Bishop's visit to Shisong.

(f) The sum of 10s. represents only half the annual fees for the two sons - that is 4s. and 6s.
The balance was met by one of the sons from his own trade earnings, also from a gift by
Maurice. Felix paid for his own clothes.

(g) Vincent did not belong to a djanggi, but he contributed 9d. worth of palm wine when his
son, Maurice, cooked djanggi. Note also that Maurice lent him money.

(h) Most of the gifts made to Elizabeth's kin were in kind (see footnote (t) below). As Vincent
had a large household his affines did not press him unduly for marriage gifts. During the

159

year under review, he spent 3d. on salt and 3d. on meat for his mother-in-law. In January
1948, Elizabeth had to go to the hospital in Bamenda Station and her 'father', Fai-o-Dzern,
gave her one shilling.

(i) On one occasion Vincent bought 2d. worth of salt to give to his 'brother' at Ketiwum;
and on another he spent 1d. on tobacco for a deceased brother's wife who lived in the
compound. Vincent, during the year, received 15s. in cash from his son, Maurice.

(j) Vincent looked after some raffia and kola trees for Fai-o-Bafhshwin, who was a high-
ranking duiy in Kimbaw. They were close friends and Vincent frequently bought salt for
the Fai. During the year he spent 1s. 4 1/2 d. on that item and also 3d. for tobacco. From
his friends Vincent received 1s. in cash when his child was ill; and another 3s. when his
wife was ill.

(k) Vincent had a number of young coffee-plants and he sometimes sold seedlings to men
in Kimbaw, notably to two men living in Mbonyaar.

(l) Regina sold 2d. worth of cocoyams from her own plot, and 1d. worth of egg-plant.

(m) Vincent normally did not sell eggs, but during my stay in Kimbaw he disposed of some to
me.

(n) In addition to sales of his own fowls, Vincent sold two fowls belonging to his two sons
and one fowl belonging to his little grand-daughter. He was scrupulous in pointing out
that the money belonged to them although for the time being he was looking after it.

(o) On an average Vincent obtained 1 1/2 to 2 quarts of palm wine a week as a perquisite for
looking after raffia belonging to the fai. He used most of it for hospitality and for gifts to
his affines, but he sold a little. The figure in the budget is an estimate.

(p) During the year under review Vincent bought a few hundred kola nuts every market-day,
usually disposing of them immediately or the following week. The total value of nuts
bought during the year was £17.18.6. He disposed of them in small quantities at a total
value of £19.13.9. He made, on an average, 1s. a week profit. His largest profit for one
week during the period was only 3s.

(q) Vincent was given 400 kolas by the owner of a tree, which he tended. He sold them for
4s. He also collected 2d. worth of windfalls.

(r) On one occasion Vincent was given 9d. commission for selling some kolas for the fai.

(s) In February 1947, Vincent had 25s. cash in hand from the previous year. With this he
was able to balance his budget.

(t) Vincent was able to meet most of his commitments to his affines from his own stores. I
cite them in detail here since they throw some light on the nature and magnitude of
marriage gifts. Elizabeth was a wir duiy, i.e. a relative of the Føn. When the Føn died
in April 1947, she gave 1 1/2 d. worth of porridge and greens to the vikinto and also 1d. worth
of palm wine, which Vincent had handed over to her for the purpose. Vincent also
gave her mother 4d. worth of wine to pass on to the vikinto. He himself sent firewood
worth 3d.
When Fai-o-Dzern, head of Elizabeth's patrilineage, "cooked" mfu (i.e. provided over
50 calabashes of wine for the mfu society) Vincent sent one of his own fowls (1s. 6d.) and
1s. worth of palm wine. Elizabeth herself gave 1s. worth of flour and 4d. worth of eggplant
to her mother for the feast. When her sister died at Memfu village, Elizabeth went to the
"cry-die" and took about 1s. worth of flour, ground from her own maize. It should be
noted that these are all ceremonial occasions when both affines and kin are expected to
make some contributions. But, during the year under review, Vincent gave his mother-in-
law palm wine at a recorded value of 6d. The amount was most probably greater as Felix
did not always make a note of such gifts during the period when he kept his father's budget
for me, Vincent's mother-in-law often gave assistance to, and received help from, Elizabeth
on the farms and was a frequent visitor at the house. She partook of many meals there and
if there were any meat she received a portion. It is extremely difficult to arrive at any
estimate of the cash value of such food, but it should be borne in mind in considering
marriage gifts to affines.
It should be stressed that Vincent and his family also received gifts from Elizabeth's kin.
At Christmas 1947, Elizabeth's mother gave Regina a Munshi cloth worth 2s. 6d., and the
youngest boy a shirt worth 3s. She also presented 3d. worth of meat to Elizabeth and the
children. The recorded value of her gifts for the year totalled 5s. 9d. It is probable that
Elizabeth received food from her other kin but again the only entry is one for cocoyams
worth 8d. from a sister.

(u) So far I have been discussing relations between Vincent and his wife's kin. But he also
had other affinal obligations. His deceased brother had been married to a woman of
Ka compound. When a man was appointed to be she of Ka in November 1947, Vincent
presented him with three long sticks (viseeeef) of firewood worth 3s., and also kolas and wine
worth 2d. He also accompanied the she on a visit to Memfu village.

160

(v) The sum of 1s. 4d. refers to the value of gifts to Vincent's own kin for which there are
entries. There were probably others. When Maurice sent palm oil from Memfu to his
mother, she reciprocated later with about 9d. worth of maize flour, while Vincent sent
about 1 1/2d. worth of kolas. Early in the year Vincent gave Fai-o-Djem a bundle of thatching
grass.
From his kin and women in the compound, Vincent and Elizabeth received a number of
small gifts of beer, potatoes and bowls of porridge at a total recorded value of 11d. The
largest contribution was from Maurice who sent, all told, 3s. worth of oil and 6d. worth of
meat to his mother. At Christmas he bought 2 little shirts (worth 3s.) for his youngest
brother and his sister's child, as well as small cloth (2s.) for his youngest sister. Felix
bought his brother Laurence a pair of shorts for 2s. 6d.

(w) Again, the value of gifts in kind to friends is probably an under-estimate but it represents
the total of actual entries. Fai-o-Bafhshwin (see footnote (j) above) was given 3d. worth
of avocado pears, and another friend was given about 3d. worth of kolas. From his friends,
Vincent received 2 1/2d. worth of tobacco) salt worth 7d., beer worth 3d. and bananas and por-
ridge worth 2d.

(x) See footnote (a).

(y) The value of kindling collected by a woman each week (i.e. 8 days) is about 6d., since she
brings in bundles about six days out of eight. On the basis of 45 1/2 Nsaw weeks this gives
a total value of some 23s. to 25s. a year. In the budget under consideration both Elizabeth
and her daughter Regina brought in firewood, so I have allowed a value of 30s. for the
year. Vincent also carried some heavy wood, but he sold the greater part of it,

(z) Vincent did not always have cash in hand to pay for his monthly contribution card at the
Mission. During the latter part of the year he spent one week at the mission making
300 sun-dried mud bricks at a value of 3s. He also presented the Mission with 2 bundles
of thatching grass. Elizabeth worked to pay for her contribution card.

(aa) Cats are in great demand in Nsaw as they do something to check the depredations of rats
on the grain stores. Kittens sell at anything from 9d. to 2s. in the market. Vincent had
4 and told me that he might sell them later at 1s. each.

(bb) On an average Vincent obtained 1 1/2 to 2 quarts of wine a week for his own use in addition
to what he gave to the owners of the raffia stands. The annual value of the wine to him
would be about 7s. 6d., but he sold about 2s. worth and gave away about 2s. 1d. worth to
affines. The balance was dispensed in hospitality to friends and kin visiting the compound.
Vincent was permitted to keep the midribs which he had to cut away when preparing to
tap wine.

(cc) Vincent's houses were set a little apart from the rest of Djem compound. He had a hut
for himself and a small storehouse where he kept kolas and clothes. His wife had a kitchen
and, early in February 1947, Vincent built a small hut for his son Maurice. He provided
11 bundles of thatching grass for the roof, and wine and meat to the value of 2s. for the
members of the compound who assisted with the thatching. Maurice met the other
expenses. During the latter part oftlie rains and the dry season (1947 to 1948) Vincent
made nearly 2,000 sun-dried mud bricks with the assistance of his sons and also his daughters,
who carried water. He intended building a large hut for himself, leaving the old hut for
the use of his son, Felix.

(dd) Elizabeth farmed 4 acres with the help of Regina and frequent assistance from her own
mother, Diy. Most of the plots (of which there were altogether 15) were located on land
belonging to Djem lineage; but she had two at Shisong and two at Kingomen which she
had 'begged' from strangers. In September 1947 she harvested 10 1/4 vegati of maize
from all her farms. In January 1948 she obtained 6 3/4 vegati of finger millet, and 1 1/2 vegati
of guinea-corn. It is noteworthy that she had good land and that, during the period when
the budget was recorded, Vincent did not spend anything on extra staple foods for the
household.

(ee) The root crops were used for the household with the exception of 2d. worth of cocoyam
which Regina sold.

(ff) Regina sold 1d. worth of eggplant, as she wanted to buy a small calabash.

(gg) Vincent had exceptionally large groves of plantains and bananas: 390 trees near the
compound, 9 at the Ro-Ngang farm, 84 at Ro-Kimbaw, and 3 at Shisong. Total 486.
But he said that during a full year less than half of these would bear fruit. Of the remainder
some would be beaten down by gales, heavy rains and hail even when propped up with
poles; others would be spoilt by insects, and others again would not bear. The value of
plantains given here represents an estimate of those kept for household use. I estimated,
on the basis of his cash earnings, that he sold about 95 lbs.

161