quarters. Medical facilities have been non-existent; and the solitary mission school in Mbandi had no pupils at all when I visited the area at the end of 1945. The American Baptist Mission has met with more success in Mfumte.

(d) Bali (or Bani). The Bali are a patrilineal people who are reputed to be a branch of the Chamba-Leko of Adamawa.¹ Owing to increasing Fulani pressure at the beginning of the last century, they left Koncha under their leader Gawebe and journeyed south to Tibati. From there they proceeded to make war upon the Bamum and eventually entered Bamenda from Bagam. Some were mounted on horseback, and they harried Bafreng, Bande, and Bafut before passing on to what is now Bali-Nyonge, some 16 miles to the west of Bamenda Station.²

In 1889 the German explorer, Zintgraff, reached Bamenda from Tinto (Mamfe) and he stayed for four months at Bali-Nyonge, where he was well received by the Føn, Garega, who was a grandson of Gawebe. He returned again in 1890 with a trading expedition, but the Tikar Føn of Bafut was hostile and two messengers were killed. The following year a punitive expedition was carried out in which it was alleged about 1,000 Bali took part. A treaty was concluded with the Føn of Bali by Zintgraff in which the latter was recognized as exercising suzerainty. But, in return, the Føn was "assured of the establishment, recognition, and protection of his position as paramount chief over the surrounding tribes of the northern hinterland of the Cameroons". From the neighbouring tribes a regular tribute was raised, part of which was given to Zintgraff for expenditure on administration.³ In 1901, the Germans set up a military and administrative post at Bamenda Station, and soon after this some of the tributary villages began to refuse allegiance. The Government continued to support Bali, however, and, when a new Føn succeeded to office in 1905, his position as paramount chief over 31 villages was confirmed. But charges of oppression were made continuously and after 1909 some of the villages were granted independence., The Bali assisted the Germans in the first World War, but the British gained control in October 1915. Many villages attempted to break away from Bali and were punished; but, by 1920, it was realized that the problem of political relations in Bali required investigation, and an Assessment Report was made by Mr. W. E. Hunt (now Sir William Hunt) in 1925. Bali was an early centre for missionary activity, the Basel Mission making it their headquarters in 1903, although at first they were more successful in securing converts and school pupils in Mbengwi in Meta. The New Testament was translated into Bali and used in other parts of Bamenda where the Mission carried on its work. Today, many of the people in Bali are Christian (Protestant and Roman Catholic); many have received some schooling; and many are prosperous carpenters, tailors and traders. The Bali market is one of the largest in the Province and is attended by men and women from over twelve miles away. Most of the people wear European clothes of some description; a number have built substantial houses of sundried mud brick, and have even begun to agitate for a little town-planning!

¹ W. E. Hunt, Assessment Report on the Bali Clan of the Bamenda Division, 1925, para. 7. Their original language was Mubakaw, but in Bamenda they adopted Mungaka, which is possibly a fusion of Bati and Bamum dialects. The account of their history in Bamenda is taken from the Report cited above. For a discussion of the Chamba in the Benue and Adamawa Provinces, see C. K. Meek, Tribal Studies in Northern Nigeria, 1931, Vol. 1; and C. L. Temple Notes on the Tribes, Provinces, Emirates and States of the Northern Provinces of Nigeria, 1919, pp. 79-80.
² Vide W. E. Hunt, op. cit., paras. 17 and 34. After a number of forays the Bali split up into six sections. Two, Bali-Nyonge and Bali-Gansin, remained in what is now the Bali N. A. Area; the Bali-Bagam and the Bali-Gasho submitted to Bagam; the Bali-Kumbat went to the Ndop Plain; and the Bali-Muti went north to Kentu, through Aghem.
³ Ibid., paras. 19-25.

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(e) Aghem. The Aghem, or the Wum as they were called in some of the Government Reports, claim that their ancestors came from Munshi and that they passed through Esu in Fungom on their way to their present site on the tableland, some 4,000 feet above sea-level. Their principal village is divided into ten large sections under Section-Chiefs (Batum), one of whom is regarded as senior to the others. They were all originally matrilineal, but a few generations ago one of the Batum quarrelled with a sister's son and instituted patrilineal descent, inheritance and succession in his own section. His example has not been followed by the others and their kinship system resembles that of the matrilineal Tikar villages of Fungom. Prior to the arrival of the Germans the role of the Aghem in the north-west was similar to that of Bali in the south-west. They conquered the neighbouring forest peoples of Befang and Esimbi, but they did not evolve the highly centralized system of government characteristic of Bali, Nsaw, Bum and Kom.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

Among the Widekum and Mbembe peoples the village, as already mentioned, was the political unit and the village head had very little executive authority. The political structure of Bali and most of the Tikar chiefdoms is basically similar to that of Nsaw. A paramount chief, with the assistance of councillors, rules the country and, under the traditional system, depended for the enforcement of his orders and justice on one or more secret societies. These societies still exist but no longer act as a police force though they are still feared by non-members. In Nsaw much of the former structure remains intact though stripped of many of its functions and some account of it is given here.

It will be remembered that Nsaw includes a number of villages of alien origin conquered in the last century. These villages became tributary to the Fon-Nsaw but in many ways retained independence in the management of their own affairs. Their chiefs were permitted to keep the title of Føn, but succession to office was contingent on ratification by the Fon-Nsaw. In the system of rank the latter is of course paramount. Next to him in precedence is the Fon-Mbiami (a Nsaw sub-chief), followed by the Fon-Nkar and the Fon-Ndzerem (a Føn whose ancestor sought sanctuary with Nkar when his people were harried by the Fulani in the last century). Below these are the Aføn of the conquered villages of the north-west. Each sub-chief has his own set of councillors, court officials and ngwirøng society.¹

The Fon-Nsaw has his palace in Kimbaw: it comprises his own inner courtyards, dwelling huts, kitchens and stores. In front of this section lies a large courtyard (Takëbu) where the Føn hears cases and discusses public affairs with his advisers. Separated from this by small antechambers is a piazza (mandëngai), flanked on one side by the quarters of the Føn's wives, and on the other by those of the ngwirøng society, members of which are called nshilafsi and act as personal attendants, messengers and, in the old days, as police.² The governing body of this society is called Ye-ngwirøng (literally, Mother of

¹ To simplify orthography in this book I have not italicized Nsaw titles when prefixed to proper names -e.g. Fon-Nsaw (Fan of Nso), and Fai-o-Ndzendzef (the Fai of Ndzëndzëf). A very brief account of Nsaw history is given in my article on "Land Tenure Among the Nsaw of the British Cameroons," Africa, XX, 1950. See also correspondence between Dr. M. W. Jeffreys and myself in Africa, XX11, 1952.
² Members of the ngwirøng society are recruited from the first-born sons of court officials (atanto) and of all other nshilafsi; and also from the first-born sons of all male and female kin of the Fan at six generations' remove.

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Ngwirong) and is comprised of several high ranking councillors with the Føn as president. Close relatives of the Føn are not permitted to join the society, but they have an association of their own - nggiri - and headquarters at the far end of the piazza.

The management of the palace, the guardianship of the Føn's wives, and control of food and wine stores are in the hands of court officials, the Atanto, whose title means "Fathers of the Palace" and who are all of nshilaf status. They have an important voice in the arrangement of the marriages of the Føn's daughters and grand-daughters, though they are not allowed to wed such women themselves. Their compounds are in the vicinity of the palace; they are in constant attendance on the Føn; and, by reason of ease of access to him, wield considerable influence. The Føn's Councillors proper are, however, the Vibai (sing. - Kibai), the most senior of whom, Fai-o-Ndzendzef, also assists in the sacrifices carried out annually to the ancestors and to God at Kovifem. The High Priest (Tawøng), the High Priestess (Yewøng) and the numerous Queen Mothers, (Aya; sing. - Ya) also assist in the government of the country and the hearing of cases. In rank they come next to the Føn, but play a less prominent role in secular affairs than the vibai.¹ Upon the succession of a Føn the title of Queen Mother (Ya) is conferred upon his mother; or, if she is dead, then upon a 'sister' or 'daughter' of the Føn providing her mother is of m'tar status (see p. 5). In addition, there are other women of royal lineage who bear the title of Ya in commemoration of the mothers of previous Aføng. They are treated with reverence by all Nsaw people, including men of rank; they have large compounds, servants, and their own raffia and kola plantations.

In the old days the Føn had his military organization (mandjøn) which was divided into two sections - g??am and baa. Most of the villages to the north and north-east of Kimbaw belonged to the g??am, and those to the south and southwest to baa. Each village had its own club house (laf mandjøng) under a Ta-mandjøng (Father of the Mandjøng); adult males automatically became members and met regularly for wine drinking, hunting, and of course gave military service when called upon. Kimbaw itself was divided into two sections, g??am and baa, each having its own club house in the environs of the palace, and its own ta-mandjøng, and supreme commander, nfoomi. The Society has been shorn of its military functions but it still exists for purposes of recreation, hunting and tax collection!

Local Organization. Bamenda villages may be anything from one to five miles apart and they vary widely in size. The smallest have little more than a few score inhabitants; the largest, including Kimbaw, Aghem, Bali and some of the Ndop village-areas, have over 3,000; while, in the great majority, population ranges from 300 to 800. In the 1947-48 figures for adult taxable males in Nsaw, 47 villages were listed; but it is worth pointing out that 14 of these only became tax-paying units in 1942-1943 and that their population is small by Nsaw standards in that it varies from just under 100 to just over 500. Of the remaining Nsaw villages, there are 15 with a population from 500 to 1,000; 7 with a population from 1,000 to just over 2,000; and, finally, Kimbaw with

¹ There are 13 vibai who act as Councillors to the Fon-Nsaw. In the case of 4 (Ndzendzef, Tankum, Yuwar, and Luun) the office has been vested in their respective lineages since the settlement at Kovifem; a fifth councillorship (that of Tsinlaa) was created by the Føn who fled to Tauwvisa from Fulani raids; while those of Ndzendzeftsen, Do-e-Ngven, and Do-e-Run were established when Kimbaw was made the capital. The late Føn during his long reign, which lasted from 1910 to 1947, appointed 5 others - Tankumkui, Sob, Mbisha, Ngandzen, and Nkavikeng - who are still looked upon as parvenus. There are 7 important Atanto (sing., tanto) who live in Kimbaw and whose lineages have been entrusted with the office for many generations. The late Føn raised other individuals to this status, but most of them live outside the capital.

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approximately 4,800.¹ Nsaw occupies an area some 700 square miles in extent and the density is about 40 to the square mile; but, within a radius of some two hours' walking distance from Kimbaw, the density must be well over 100. In this particular region there are 17 villages with a total population of nearly 15,000. The pressure on arable and residential land is considerable and, for many years, there has been a drift to the fertile areas near Kwanso, Shiy, and south of Mbiami.

In most Tikar tribes and in those influenced by them, houses are square structures of wattle and daub surmounted by a pyramidal thatched roof. The usual size is 12 feet square, some being a little more commodious. Immediately under the roof is an attic, which is usually approached through a small aperture in the top of the front or side wall, and which is reserved mainly for the storage of grain and firewood. The traditional style of hut lacks windows, and has a sliding door of raffia poles raised a few inches or a foot above ground-level. A hearth of three or four stones occupies the centre of the floor, while ranged around the walls are beds, and racks for pots, baskets and other utensils. Women and small children have stools of cane, and usually there is a larger and finer one kept hanging on a peg for visitors of rank or importance. At the back of the hut (but sometimes outside) is placed a grindstone; and ranged along the outer walls under the caves are raffia bins for dried grain, bundles of thatching grass, and heavy firewood. Chickens are kept in coops of wattle and daub, or in cane boxes where available. Failing these shelters, they roost inside with the family at night. In many Tikar villages near the main roads, Africans are beginning to build their huts from sun-dried mud brick, - a practice which results in a great saving of raffia poles. These houses often have windows and doors of plank, are rectangular in shape, and in some cases are lined inside with mats of raffia pith. Christians have displayed most initiative in adopting this style of architecture, but their wives are usually confined to the traditional type of kitchen, where they sleep with their young children and where they are sometimes joined by the head of the household when the weather is particularly inclement. On the highlands nights are often very cold, firewood is scarce, and the crowded though ill-ventilated snugness of the old-style hut is preferred to the spacious and draughty atmosphere of a modern dwelling. In Mbembe and Mfumte, hut-walls are made from layers of clay bound with palmnut fibre; in Ngie most of the huts are round, but have a raffia or timber framework mudded over and surmounted by a roof thatched with palmleaf mats.

In all Bamenda tribes each married woman generally has her own hut which she occupies with her unmarried children. If her husband has no other wives he may for some years possess no special dwelling of his own; but, when circumstances permit, he builds one in order to have space for his belongings and the entertainment of his guests. Adolescent sons may share this with him, but as soon as possible they take over a vacant hut and in any case they will, when they marry, construct one for the bride.

Dwelling and store huts face on to a central courtyard and nearby are small kitchen gardens, plantain groves and sometimes kola trees. The size of a compound varies widely throughout Bamenda: in Mbembe, Mfumte, Nsungli, Bali and Aghem one which has been established for several generations may

¹ For tax assessment Kimbaw is divided into the two mandjøng sections of g??am and baa, but both are under the immediate surveillance of the Føn. The figures for population are approximate and are based on those for adult males who pay either the head-tax or income-tax. I have also included Hausa and other strangers such as Bamum, but not the Fulani. There are some 770 Hausa living mainly in Kimbaw, Jajiri, Mbiami and Lassin; and some 800 Bamum in Mbiami, Mbo-Nso, and Kifom. There are a number of small villages beside the 47 mentioned in the text above; but, for payment of tax, they combine with large villages in their vicinity. All told, there must be from 50 to 60 independent villages.

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contain anything from 10 to 20 houses; while in Nsaw that of a senior Councillor such as Fai-o-Ndzendzef has 103 and extends over some 4 acres of ground. But in many tribes, even among the Tikar, compounds are smaller and inhabited by the compound head, his wives, married sons and perhaps younger married brothers. The Ngie kinship group which constitutes a co-residential unit is even more limited in size, since a man, at marriage, normally leaves the parental compound and builds one of his own on land allocated to him by his father. In those Tikar tribes where rank is stressed the apartments of a lineage head are trellised off from the rest of the compound; and the graves of his predecessors, where sacrifices are performed, lie in his small inner courtyard. But in most of the forest tribes even a village head lacks such privacy and his hut may be only a little larger than that of an ordinary villager. A rough plan of some Kimbaw compounds is given in Appendix D.

As a general rule Bamenda villages form fairly compact clusters of compounds, but much depends on the lie of the land and whether the women also have rough shelters on the outlying bush farms, where they live for weeks at a time during the season of heavy work. Where the forest is relatively dense, as in parts of Widekum, compounds are dispersed in small clearings. The system of land tenure will be discussed in detail in a later chapter, but it should be pointed out that it is only rarely that a village is subdivided into territorial units or wards under Ward Headmen appointed at the will of the paramount authority.¹ More commonly, sections of residential land are vested in the heads of lineages and occupied in the main by their male dependants, except in some of the matrilineal groups where the individual may elect to reside with his father, wife's father, or a friend until he inherits the house or compound of a mother's brother or elder brother. Much depends on personal inclination, amicable relations with kin and neighbours, good health, availability of farmland, occupation and, nowadays, propinquity to co-religionists in the case of one who has become a convert to one of the Christian sects or to Islam. For example, out of 33 male householders in the zønafø Section of Aghem, only 6 were living near a mother's brother; 14 were near their father; 4 were with a wife's father; and 9 were with a friend or a stranger. The strength of the tie between a man and his father, the considerable economic independence of a man after marriage, and his right to receive the major part of the marriage payment for his daughters - all these factors operate against the emergence of the matrilineage as a localized unit.

In the patrilineal tribes, on the other hand, the pattern of residence is more uniform. Where compounds are small, the male members and unmarried females of a number of adjacent compounds are related as a rule by agnatic ties and, for certain purposes, come under the authority of one of the compound heads who acts as lineage head. In Nsungli and Nsaw, where compounds are frequently large, some 4 to 10 families may have their huts grouped round a rectangular courtyard. The elementary family emerges as a clearly defined residential, social and economic unit, producing nearly all the food it requires and exercising a certain amount of control over its own affairs. But male members of these families, as well as unmarried females, are related to the compound head by patrilineal ties and may therefore be regarded as constituting the major part of a co-residential patrilineage. The women, who at

¹ The Ndop villages of Bamessi and Bamungo are divided into 4 and 6 wards respectively, each ward having its own headman. The Bamessi term for ward head, tieentüa, is obviously a dialectical variant of the Lamnso tantee, "Father of the Village." The tieentüa settles minor disputes, particularly over compound boundaries, and has a place on the Føn's council. The Bali term for ward head is nkøm and he may have under his supervision at least 9 compounds. In Aghem, a ward is called akøn, and a ward head, tsho-akøn. The position of Ward Head in both Bali and Aghem is not hereditary, and the same is true of the office of compound head (mokubee) in Aghem.

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marriage go to live with their husbands, pay frequent visits, sometimes continuing to work plots on the land of the lineage; and they may, in old age or when widowed or divorced, return to live permanently in the parental compound.

(a) Nsaw Lineage Organization. In Nsaw the average size of a lineage is difficult to compute since it may number anything from 20 to 70 members; but frequently a lineage head (fai or she) had under his direct surveillance from 3 to 10 adult married males who stand in a relationship to him of sons, brothers, brothers' sons, and more rarely father, father's brothers and grandsons. Sometimes a man goes to live in another part of the village or even in a different village. The reasons for changes of residence are various: pressure on building-space, particularly when an individual has more than one wife and many adolescent sons; desire for better farm land; care of distant raffia plantations entrusted to him by the lineage head; ambition to have a compound of his own and to become the founder of what may ultimately be a sub-lineage; prolonged illness, constant misfortune, or quarrels. It should be stressed, however, that even though he builds his compound many miles away a man still remains under the authority of the lineage head and is known merely as a compound-owner, ngaalaa, whatever the number of his wives and children.

If a compound in Nsaw prospers and at least two generations have lapsed since its foundation, the title of sub-lineage head, she, may, with the consent of the Føn and of the fai of the parent lineage, be conferred on one of its members. The new she then has rights of inheritance to the property (vitsø) of the members of his group (kisheeer: pl., visheeeer), arranges the marriages of the women; but is expected to make a token gift of firewood each year to the fai of the parent lineage as a symbol of subordinate status. After a lapse of four generations, the title of fai indicative of senior status, may be granted;¹ after five generations, marriage is permitted between members of the two lineages.² But a man may not select a wife from the lineages of his mother, his mother's mother, and his mother's mother's mother.

When a woman is given away in marriage with the consent of the fai of her lineage, she is referred to as a wiiy o nøøne (a woman who enters the house) or a wiiy o foone (a woman who is given). Her children belong to her husband's lineage; and, when he dies, she is expected to marry the member of his lineage who has been selected by her late husband's fai; or at least to remain in the compound, unless she is very old. On the other hand, if she "marries" without the consent of the fai of her lineage, she is termed a wiiy o tsheemin (translated into Pidgin-English as a woman who is stolen, although Lamnso for stolen is shøng). Efforts are made to secure her return; but, failing success, any children whom she bears belong to her own father's lineage. Normally they remain with her until they no longer require her immediate care, that is, until about the age of 6 years. Sometimes they are not claimed until later, but the fai of the mother's lineage has the right to arrange the marriages of the girls. If an unmarried girl becomes pregnant, the child belongs to its mother's father's lineage and will address the mother's father by the term for 'father'. An illegitimate child of a married woman (wiiy o nøøne) belongs to her legal husband.

¹ It should he noted that in the Nsaw lineage organization the genealogical relationships between the founders of the component lineages of clans are rarely known.

² The title of she is sometimes used as a matter of courtesy for men who have established their own compounds and have one or more married sons living with them. But it is not associated with any rights over kola and raffia plantations, nor with the giving of female dependants in marriage. It may also he applied to married sons of the Føn, and to ex-officials of the ngwirøng society. The son of a High Priest may also be granted the title of fai and its attendant privileges by the Føn.

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