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 House Building 99 The adaptability of the language and the readiness with which it assimilates new ideas and absorbs foreign words give some ground for another explana- tion. His every-day life, once he was acquainted with it, would bring the Hausa into daily ^contact with the camel, whereas the giraffe would only be seen occasion- ally ; it would not be unnatural for him, then, to discard the old barbarous name for giraffe and substitute for it the name rakumVn daji, which, owing to his familiarity with the camel, would better represent that animal to his imagination than the old one. He has discarded his old system of numeration in a similar way. HOUSE BUILDING, ETC. There are several varieties of house : — Daki The conical :roofed hut with the wall made of mud. Dauke or taffe Very often this hut is also called daJii, but, strictly speaking, it is built of z ana mats throughout. Bukka or Booka The grass shelter of traders. The hut that the Bornu people build is also given this name. Soro The flat-roofed house, built of mud. Zauri The entrance to a gidda ; it has two doors and is where visitors sit and gossip.