BUDGET 6

Tanye and Biy-Menggu

Tanye of Menggu Compound is a pagan in his thirties and has one wife, Biy, who is also a pagan. She has had one miscarriage and lost one child. The third is about
18 months old and she carries him to the farm each day as she is unable, except occasionally, to find a nursemaid. Biy herself is rather sickly and has no assistance on the farm. Her parents live in the distant village of Nkor and, during the year under review, never visited her. At the end of 1946 she was deprived of two large farms, and cultivated only 0.46 acre from February 1947 to February 1948, as compared with 1.2 acres in the previous farm season. She has one close relative in Kimbaw, her mother's sister (wife of a kibai), whom she sometimes visits on a rest day. She also accompanies her husband to the djanggi at Mbonyaar on Sundays, and sits with the women there although she makes no financial contribution to the meeting. Tanye regularly retails kerosene and salt which he buys in the local market. He looks after the kola trees of his deceased father and, in addition, has charge of some raffia belonging to a fai of Meluf. I recorded his budget weekly from the 28th September 1947 to the 28th February 1948, but on two market-days he did not trade (owing to sickness), and on a third occasion he was away from Kimbaw for 4 days and did not return until the late evening of market-day. He belonged to 2 djanggis.

NOTES

(a) The expenditure on oil was high for a small household but oil was bought from the 'bank' at Mbonyaa.
(b) Expenditure on salt was considerable but, like palm oil, it was bought about once a month at 1s. 2d. a time from the 'bank' at Mbonyaar. Tanye was reticent about it, but I think he disposed of some in the market.
(c) Biy's harvest of grain was small. Tanye bought 2 bags of maize for 4s. on the 9th December; two more bags at 4s. 6d. on the 10th January; one for 2s. on the 11th February, and another for 2s. 3d. on the 19th February.
(d) Tanye made a larger profit than usual on the kerosene (see main text) on the 11th February and celebrated by buying khaki cloth for himself) a fowl (2s.), and beef (3d.) for the household. His pagan wife wore only a small strip of baft (cost included in the preceding 7 months), while his small son wore nothing at all.
(e) Tanye had 31s. 5d. in the 'bank' at Mbonyaar. In October 1947, and again in January 1948, he drew out 20s., repaying the amount later with 1s. 8d. interest each time. On the 12th October 1947, he 'cooked' djanggi for 60s. He spent 5s. on refreshments for members. Earlier in the year he had 'cooked' djanggi at the Nfoomi Gham's for 40s.
(f) Tanye had 3 beehives and sold honey 4s. 6d. Profits for the year were estimated at 10s.
(g) Ten bundles of thatching grass were kept for repair of 2 huts and store in the compound. The remaining 49 bundles were valued at 3 1/2d. each.
(h) Tanye looked after raffia and disposed of 8s. worth of poles to a local builder. Estimated value of poles kept for home repairs was 2s.
(i) Salt was bought for 24s. (2 bags) and retailed for 26s.
(j) Tanye bought kerosene for £4-16-2 and retailed it in pint bottles for £6-6-8. His profits were larger than usual because he obtained one tin at cost price from me.
(k) Biy was given 4d. by her husband to buy cassava for trade. She made gruel and sold it for 5d.
(1) I have allowed 5s. 10d. for oil; 2s. for salt; 2s. for meat; 6d. for groundnuts for child; and 20s. for staples.
(n) After the death of his first two children, Tanye consulted a diviner when the third child was born and was advised to avoid all contact with his wife's kin until the child could walk. He therefore made no gifts to his affines during the period under survey.
(o) Tanye had a very large grove of plantains and normally he would derive 10s. a year from the sale of the fruit.

(p) Small perquisites of palmwine were obtained in return for his work as ngaaruu for a fai. Some he sold, and some was consumed by him and his friends.
(q) Tanye looked after some kola trees and received for his labour a few small nuts.
(r) On the basis of his budget recorded for 5 months I estimated that Tanye made approximately 1s. 3d. a week from retailing salt and kerosene in small quantities. This gives an annual income of 56s. 9d., but in the year under review it amounted to 67s. 6d. (See (j)).
(s) I have one record of food (3d.) contributed to feast at the building of a house of a kinsman of Tanye.
(t) In September 1947 Biy obtained only 3 1/2 vegati of maize and later about 10 lbs. of finger millet. By the end of January she had only a small quantity kept for seed.
(u) Biy did not plant sweet potatoes, and had only a small area under rizga and yams.
(v) Estimated crop was 1,000 lbs. plantains, value 50s. Approximately 800 lbs. were consumed by household.
(w) Tanye had started a small coffee plantation a year previously.