The comparisons of these words shew tolerably the relations of the above dialects with the I'gbo. The following numbers were given to Mr. Crowther and myself by King Peppel; as they were very carefully taken down, they may be considered as tolerably authentic. A'ti is used for "ten" in counting up or in reckoning, but when it is employed to designate a specific number, as "ten men,' oyi is selected. These numbers of King Peppel's correspond pretty closely with those given by Koelle. The I'gbo numbers all belong to the Isuáma dialect, except tóili, which appears to resemble that of A'ro. For "thirty-six," Bonny people say "forty without four." * This seems to correspond with Oisa rather than with Tshúku. rána-sáka náge-tsháka. The following was given to me by Mr. Crowther as the best division of the dialects of Yoruba. The purest Yoruba is spoken by the Muhammadans of Ilorin. The dialect of Lagos is very impure. Abbeokúta is E'gba. DIALECTS OF HAUSA. 1. Katshina, the purest and best. 2. Káno. 3. Gobír. 4. Dáura. 5. Zámfara. 6. Zúzu. 7. Biránta Góbaz. 9. Shira or Shúra. Specimens of the Mítshi, and of the Dóma or Arago languages have been published in the Appendix to Crowther's Journal. BAIÓN WORDS. The following, which have also been published by Dr. Latham, in the "Proceedings of the Philological Society," I procured from a man a native of Baión, whom I met at Clarence. On comparing these words with Koelle's Bayon specimens in the "Polyglotta Africans," there can be no doubt of their belonging to one common language, but representing different dialects. BÁTÍ WORDS. Fernando Po from a Báti The number of words is for a quarter of an hour The following I procured also at man, through a Baión interpreter. very few, but I only saw the man before I left the place, and I had barely time to secure and correct what are here given. These numerals must at once strike as being peculiar and elaborate, but I am certain of their being correct. A few of the words resemble the Baión, which is very probable, as Báti and Baión border on each other. Under the head of Bayon, Koelle gives a Páti dialect, which, however, does not at all correspond with what are given above. In Petermann's Atlas it is said that the Báti people are white; but this is erroneous, as the man I saw had a very black skin, and he told me all his countrymen were the same. D. A fertile source of confusion and difficulty has arisen from different travellers and writers having described the same place or the same tribe by various appellatives, which, to the reader not previously versed in African geography, must be productive of endless trouble and mystery. Thus the Púlo race is known in Bornú as Fuláta, and in Háusa as Fuláni; English writers often style them Fúlo, and the French call them Peul. The town of Lagos is by the natives known as E'ko, and by the Portuguese as Onín; and Abó is variously entitled Eboe, Abé, Opú and Abo 'ntá. To endeavour to clear up these points, I have drawn up, partly from my own enquiries, partly from such authorities as have been within my reach, the following lists of synonymes, which catalogue the various names given to the same spot or race by different people, and also the numerous designations employed by travellers to denote the same place. I have been careful to distinguish native and original names; and I trust the lists, which are necessarily rather long, may assist the researches of geographers and philologists. |