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Hausa abounds in proverbs and sayings, no attempt has hitherto been made to collect them.

In Schon's "Magana Hausa" there is a short list, but there are no explanatory notes, and many specimens can hardly be called proverbs. Sir R. Burton published a book, entitled "Negro Wit and Wisdom," which contains proverbs in Kanuri, Yoruba, and other languages, but none in Hausa.

Apart from the fact that these sayings are a guide to grammar, history, and other subjects of interest, they are also of great practical value.

The manners and customs of everyday life, social conditions, the virtues most admired, the vices most despised, &c., &c., are shown us from the native point of view.

They enter into ordinary conversation to an extent of which one does not become aware in the routine of a provincial court, or of the "orderly room."

Many quite common expressions and allusions require some explanation before their significance is really grasped.