times tshøng is brought to the compound of a Føn's son, who is prepared to provide a feast so that his daughters may see it. The Ayinko, in describing the purpose of the society, said it was "for rejoicing" (fee shee'eeri) and "to give strength for working a farm well" (fo vitavi a waa lim sum kidjung), and that the ritual objects were "a thing of the earth" (kifa ke nsaiy).¹

In Fungom, Kom and Aghem most villages have two or three women's societies of varying importance. One, the Fumbuween (there are dialectical variations of this term throughout the region), functions mainly for dances at mourning, and the entrance fee is usually a little food and beer, - a contribution which is well within the means of most women. It is the principal society in Koshin and Fang villages, and the fee is larger - food, beer, and two goats in the former case; food, beer, and a fowl in the latter.²

Nshamte (and variations of this name, e.g. nshama, nsama, etc.) is the society to which most prestige attaches in the villages of Munkap, Mashi, Bentshan, Bidjoon, Mufu, and Ndjan in the Fungom area. Membership is normally attained after marriage, but sometimes a man assists an adolescent daughter by contributing a fowl, one of the items which must be paid in addition to drums of beer and maize. For instance in Bentshan, some 10 drums (or 40 gallons of beer) must be brewed by an ordinary member; the rank of Natum or "Mother" in the society necessitates an outlay not only of beer and food, but also two goats, groundnuts, egusi, and palm wine.³ This entails the co-operation of a husband or male kin.

The fumbuween is subsidiary to the afaf society (variants are kefa', kefap) in Aghem, Kom, and the villages of Fungom, Esu, Mme and Zhoaw. Only women who have borne a child may become full members and handle the ritual objects, which are "owned" by the senior women. Payments are graded in Zhoaw, there being four altogether before the status of natum is attained. The first is a feast for all members of the society, and the initiate contributes 2 pots of wine or beer, maize porridge, and cocoyams; for the second there is more food and beer, but in addition either a husband or brother gives a bush-cow hide, which is boiled and consumed as a relish with the staple. On the third occasion about 100 Ibs. of uncooked cocoyam are distributed; and, lastly, about the same amount of cooked cocoyam and some 50 gallons of beer. Female kin assist, but the first essential is that the intending member herself should have had a series of good harvests. Some never make more than one or two feasts, and so remain associate or ordinary members.

Matrilineal descent obtains in Fungom Village and here (as also in Kom) the brother-sister relationship enters as a factor in the exchanges. A woman, who has a surplus from her harvest, gives some maize and cocoyam to the senior wife (ni'apwi), who retains a portion and sends the balance to her husband. He, in his turn, hands this over to his eldest sister, who either divides it among her female siblings or utilizes it as a feast for the afaf society. After a woman

¹ The daughters and grand-daughters of the Føn also have a society known as lalir, which holds its dances on a kilooviy. A wanto, who has had a good harvest and who may count on assistance from her matrikin, "cooks lalir " (naa lalir), and provides a feast which is consumed not only by other wonto, but also by women who join in the dance, though their share is very small. A son of the Føn, assisted by nshilafsi, is put in charge of the proceedings for a year by the Føn.

² In the reign of the previous Village Head, Fang adopted the nshamte society from Bentshan and paid 2 goats for the privilege. It should be noted that in Nsaw there is a mourning dance called shinduyen (a term which is obviously a variant of fumbuween), but it is not associated with any society.

³ A Mashi man, who has provided meat, oil, and wine to the value of 5 goats for his wife to become a member of nshamte, may, if she leaves him, reclaim the fee from her new husband. If he is unsuccessful, he selects another wife to take her place in the society, and the divorced woman forfeits her membership.

has presented food to the ni'apwi about five times (that is, over a period of five years or more), she is informed that she has shown all due respect to her seniors and may now become a member of afaf. The husband buys palm wine, oil and salt, while her own brothers and mother's brothers provide wine and fowls. To become a ni'afaf (Mother of the society), she must prevail on her husband to contribute a goat, and a very large feast is held. In Kom (which is likewise matrilineal) the father's sister acts as sponsor, and approaches the father to tell him it is time his child should join. He hands over to her about two shillings' worth of salt, and meat to the same value. The girl, with the assistance of her female matrikin, then brews a large pot of beer and cooks five large baskets of maize porridge.¹

It was noteworthy that many of the office-bearers in both nshamte and afaf societies were either wives or daughters of Village Heads, Section Heads or important lineage heads. These men, as a rule, possess more sheep and goats than the average villager and so are in a better position to make the contribution which is necessary if a woman is to attain senior status. There is a tendency for a natum or ni'afaf to designate a daughter as her successor and, in that case, the girl's father (or husband if she is married) is under some obligation, quite apart from reasons of prestige, to provide the more costly items of the feast. A number of women whom I questioned had succeeded their mothers in office.

The "Mother" of a society is treated with respect and often described as "a women who has much food." She is addressed by her title and her personal name is not used. When visiting, she is given the seat of precedence and is served first; and at meetings of the society, she divides the food, beer, and meat and has a right to the largest share. Apart from feasts for new members, the society also assembles irregularly during the dry season to drink beer, women taking it in turns to brew and so acquire prestige. Earlier I mentioned that each society has certain ritual objects. These are hidden in the house of the natum and brought forth for special occasions. The Zhoaw kefa' has a basket covered with camwood and called a tshøng (note that this is also the name of the Nsaw women's society). A natum inserts a pipe (imported from Kom) into the tshøng and blows as she dances. There is also a small iron gong which is kept hidden in a bag called kefa' (the name of the society). The nshamte of Bentshan has a special basket called nshamte, and a pot (tshøng) partly covered with cane, into which a Kom pipe is blown. The Ni'afaf of Fungom Village showed me in the privacy of her hut a calabash (afaf), bound with cane, and also a pot, partly encased in cane (iteen-afafi), in which a pipe may be inserted.

Besides meetings for recreation or the initiation of a new member, most of the societies have other functions. In Fungom (and also in Zhoaw, Aghem and Kom) the natum brews a medicine which makes a woman's body strong and fat. In other villages the medicine is more closely associated with agriculture: just prior to planting it is rubbed on the bodies of members and is believed to bring success in farming. A natum of Munkap may also invoke the blessing of the ancestors and of God on the harvest. In all villages the societies dance at the mortuary ceremonies for a dead member; and, at her own death, a natum receives a special burial.² Finally, the natum has a special medicine to give a man who has been unsuccessful in hunting. His failure, in such villages as

¹ In Aghem, a husband normally assumes responsibility for providing the goat, fowls, oil, and salt for the entrance fee, but in the case of a Section Head (Batum) provision is first made for the membership of a sister and sister's daughter. An exception occurs in the case of the Section Head of Zoneku, who follows patrilineal descent and assumes in this matter no responsibility for his sisters and their daughters.

² If the March rains are late in failing, the natum of Mashi goes to the grave of one of her predecessors in the compound of the Village Head, throws water "to cool the ground" and then dances with the women.

Aghem, Zhoaw, Bidjoon and Mashi, may be attributed to his having inadvertently seen or touched the ritual objects of the society; in Koshin it may be due to a quarrel with a sister, mother, or father's sister, and he then approaches a natum for help. She rubs him with medicine and receives in return a fowl and wine. When he next catches game he presents her with a portion, which she shares with other members.¹

Clearly these societies are of some importance in the economy, in so far as they are one channel through which a part of a surplus at harvest is distributed among a wide group of individuals, who are not necessarily related to one another. Moreover they are an incentive to agricultural production above subsistence level, since feasts must be given for admission, and again later if prestige is to be maintained. They are also a means by which women may attain to a position of authority and responsibility, outside the compound and closed kinship group; for, apart from their other functions, they also settle quarrels among members of their own sex and act as their spokesmen. In Njinikom, a Kom village which lives under the shadow of the Roman Catholic Mission and is largely Christian, the afaf society is almost extinct. Elsewhere in the north-west membership of nshamte and afaf has, according to informants, declined because husbands, with the rise in the cost of living, claim that they can no longer afford to provide oil, salt, fowls, and goats. From the brief inquiries 1 made in Bentshan, Mashi, Fungom and Zhoaw, it was apparent that in most compounds only one woman might be a member, and in some instances there was none. The fact that women are dependent on co-operation from the men for payment of full fees in most societies brings me to another point, namely that women are not permitted in this region to own fowls or goats. As markets are poorly developed, they lack opportunity for selling produce, pots, or baskets to obtain the necessary cash with which they might make the purchase of oil, salt and fowls. Among the Tikar peoples of the east and centre of the uplands, custom is more flexible. Women occasionally breed fowls and may sell them if their husbands consent. An exception is made in the case of wives of a Føn or a lineage head who often have to depend on their own resources for many necessaries. And this brings us to the subject of trade or rather to certain aspects, since marketing will be discussed in more detail in Chapter VIII.

TRADE

Throughout most of Bamenda women are free to engage in petty trade of foodstuffs, beer, and so on. Usually they are not obliged to obtain a husband's permission but, in theory, they are expected to hand over earnings to him, or account for purchases. In practice, a man is not concerned with collecting his wife's few pennies and, in so far as she buys utensils, tools, seed, a little salt or oil, his own responsibility for these things is lightened. Nor does he object to her occasionally purchasing a little tobacco, camwood, and trinkets. The wives of polygynists (mainly lineage heads, village heads, and aføn) are subjected to even less supervision: partly because such matters are too trivial for the notice of men of rank; partly because, with the rise in the cost of living, such men are sometimes unable, or else fail, to make adequate provision for all their wives, more especially those who are old and inherited. Some distribute a little salt and oil regularly, but if a woman's household is large this is often insufficient.

¹ There is not space here to describe the other societies : the esøng of Aghem for which the entrance fee is small; the ndjan of Fungom, and also the tshain of the same place. This last belongs to the Atshaf matriclan, which is also that of the Village Head, and only a clanswoman can attain the status of ni'atshain. Women of other clans may become associate-members, but only after they have joined afaf. The same custom prevails in Mme, and possibly in the related villages of Kuk and Nyos which I was unable to visit.

In Nsaw and most other tribes, a young girl tells her mother if she has earned anything or has received a present; but she is normally free to expend it on groundnuts or ornaments, or to engage in further trading. A young boy also enjoys a similar freedom in Nsaw; and, if he attends school, he spends part of his holidays trading, in order to assist with the payment of fees and the purchase of clothes and books. Outside Nsaw, boys are expected to hand over earnings to their father or lineage head, since the latter has the responsibility of contributing to the marriage payment for a wife for him later.¹

The question of a woman's right to handle money is an important one, in view of the development of markets and the demand for a higher standard of living in most areas. Under the traditional system she required little in the way of cash, since the husband assumed responsibility for most articles entailing a relatively large monetary outlay. This attitude has persisted even among many Christians; and, on more than one occasion, men expressed the fear that, if women engaged in large-scale trade and kept their earnings, they would begin to think of nothing but buying clothes and trinkets. This might prove the first step towards looking for another husband who could maintain them in more luxury, or to becoming a prostitute - a somewhat lucrative profession these days. The same reasons were advanced against women joining djanggi societies. It should be stressed, however, that a few Christian men permit their wives to trade regularly as long as they are kept informed about the extent of their earnings. If the sums are large the husband usually takes them, but on the understanding that he is acting as banker and will eventually buy the woman a dress and head-tie. Women's budgets are discussed more fully in a later section, but we may round off our analysis of women's rights to property by considering inheritance. Contrary to what may be expected, the kin of a deceased woman do not appear to exercise more extensive privileges in the matrilineal tribes than in the patrilineal. In practically all groups, the husband inherits tools, utensils, and ornaments, though if he has daughters they receive a share. Failing daughters, he hands the articles over to his other wives. The exceptions are few: Ngie, Ngwo, Beba, and Esimbi (all patrilineal) as well as Koshin and Aghem. In Nsaw, a husband gives his wife's pots to his daughters or his other wives, but hands over to his wife's father her hoe, farm knife, and beads. Much the same custom obtains in Meta and also in Bafut.²

In this chapter we have examined in a number of contexts the control exercised over crops by the women. We have seen that they have the right to take measures to protect their farms, measures which, in some areas, are not available to the men. But when we turn to examine the correlation, if any, between ultimate rights to crops and type of kinship structure we find that in the great majority of tribes, both patrilineal and matrilineal, the husband may claim the harvest in the event of divorce or when his wife dies. This may be associated with the custom in Bamenda of fairly large marriage payments and the inheritance of widows by the lineage of the deceased husband. It should however be borne in mind that the correlation is not absolute, since in both

¹ An adolescent girl, whom I questioned in Meta, said she would give her earnings to her father since it was he who would have to find the marriage payment when her brother married. This was exceptional. It is perhaps unnecessary to point out that, while women claim they report the amount of their earnings to their husband, they may on occasion conceal it, especially if he is niggardly.

² By the time a girl is ready for marriage she has already received a hoe from her mother or her father, and she takes it with her to her husband's compound. In most of the tribes of the west and north-west, her mother provides her with her first baskets, pots and seed. In Nsaw, a man presents his daughter with a stool (ntaa-djin, stool of the bride) and says, "here is your stool. You must sit down in your husband's compound, and not go walking about like a loose woman!"

Kom and Ngie the kin of a dead woman may claim the standing crops which she has cultivated.

We have also seen that, while in theory a husband may veto the distribution of food to individuals who do not belong to his household, in practice it is left to the woman to decide what should be retained for the family and what should be given away to friends, kin or, in some cases, women's societies. The freedom of choice exercised by the women is an important point in considering the relation between formal status and role, and it underlines a contention held by the writer that, while in the formal kinship structure women are subordinate to the authority of the male head of the household, in practice and in meeting the exigencies of day-to-day life it is the women who frequently make decisions in matters pertaining to use of arable land and crops. In other words, an adequate analysis of the economic position of women involves not only a survey of formal rights to property but a comprehensive account of the informal privileges which the great majority of women enjoy. In fact, such privileges are so customary that they may be said to constitute a norm of behaviour; and it is only when, for one reason or another, relationships between husband and wife become strained that such rights are challenged. We are here then faced with a paradox which cannot be resolved by merely asserting that there is always in social life a divergence between the ideal patterns and the observed patterns of behaviour. It is in the abnormal situation - one of conflict or friction - that rights which are structurally determined, in the sense that they derive from the distribution of authority in the kinship structure, may be observed; while in the day-to-day pattern of existence many of the rights enjoyed by the women derive in part from qualities of personality but mainly, I think, from the fact that in the last resort the men are dependent on the competence, goodwill and feeling of moral responsibility of the women for the bulk of the food supply.

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