Notes to chapter one. 1) Bolilands: Flat treeless and seasonally swampy grasslands. 2) So described by Lewis (1954, 114). 3) In 1924-5 Migeod visited "Kaballa". Looking down from the District Commissioner's residence he observed:-"In the valley are the Kuranko and Limba town's both separate. The precise boundary between the two countries is about here but the precise line has not been marked". (1928, p.58) 4) This, and the following section, are largely organised around Harvey (1967). I shall not provide an historical landscape. I am only interested in presenting information about the development of Kabala that is relevant inasmuch as it provides useful supportive information for my largely ahistorical data. I carried out very little in the way of historical enquiries, apart from the collection of a few individual life-histories. For a deeper historical perspective see Fyle (1976 and 1979), and Lipschutz (1973). Also see Chapter Two. 5) Harvey suggests that "in the middle of the nineteenth century there was either no settlement called Kabala, or it was a small unimportant village not worth visiting by traders".(1967, p.63) Fyle, however , insists that Kabala existed as the capital of the Barawa Kuranko from the mid-nineteenth century, and was a vassal of the Solima Yalunka Kingdom. Yet by Fyle's own evidence, any power that emanated from Kabala was of a very minor nature, or Kabala would not have been destroyed by such a relatively unimportant polity as the Yagala Limba. (Fyle.C.M. 1979, p.67) 6) Cardew's map is reproduced in Mitchell (1962). 7) As Johnny et al. observe:- "it is essential to reject the notion of isolated, inward-looking rural communities first linked up with the modern world by the development of colonial transportation, only then beginning to lose many of their young people attracted by the "bright lights" of the city...Northern Sierra Leone, considered by many to be, today, a characteristically 'backward', 'isolated', part of West Africa...was integral to a thriving system of long distance trade and production specialisation even before the foundation of Sierra Leone (the Freetown Settlement) in 1787". (1981, p.614) And see Fyle (1979). 8) Incidentally, Kabala's name has a similar origin, meaning in Limba, "Kabba's place". 9) It was not until the 1950's, following further road improvements, which linked the three settlements, that Gbauwria and Yogomaia experienced more rapid rates of growth as residential areas. 10) Brokensha suggests that Larteh, in Ghana, has experienced a similar rate of growth over much the same period. (Personal communication) Generally speaking, the rate of migration to Kabala slackened as southern centres, especially Freetown and the new "diamond towns", became greater attractions for

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employment and social services. Kabala has continued to "develop" in the sense that since the 1960's the town has continued to grow in size and population. It has also developed in the sense that changes have taken place. But the important human issue, as to whether "development", in the sense of better economic and social conditions, has occurred over the last twenty years, is not easy to assess. Many of the changes that have taken place over recent years, point clearly to regression rather than improvement. 11) Several of the features of Kabala, e.g. tailors working on verandahs, the importance of a central market, the concentration of administrative offices, appear to be widespread features of African towns. A list of the relevant comparative "small-town" studies has already been provided in the Preface. 12) "Recording studios" hold a large stock of current and past musical "hits" on cassette tape. The customer takes along a blank tape and requests the music of his or her choice. (The music available is listed, or simply remembered by the studio assistant). The assistant, from the master tapes, makes a duplicate recording. Unpredictable voltage changes in Kabala's equally unpredictable electricity supply, complicate the business. Customers may return to complain that their favourite dance number has been recorded at the wrong speed or, worse, slows down (or speeds up) halfway through the recording. Recording, in this manner, breaks international copyright regulations, but brings a great deal of fun and laughter into the community. There are no local pop groups, although the town is visited, from time to time, by itinerant musicians, (but I gathered that these musicians usually played "traditional music"). 13) cf. Bohannan and Dalton (1962). 14) And see Duodo's "The Gab Boys" (1969). 15) cf. Baxter (1984, 460f. and passim). Incidentally, some informants claimed that Kabala market-place had declined in recent years. I was told that the improvements to the Fadugu-Makeni road had adversely affected the availability of many imported goods, especially those from Guinea. The suggestion was that the goods now passed through Kabala on their way to the larger markets in the South. 16) In this Kabala is similar to Larteh, as described by Brokensha 1966, p.xviii and passim. 17) This dualism is faintly mirrored in the positioning of the two mosques, one being in Yogomaia and the other in the town centre. i.e. One in Warra Warra Yagala and one in Sengbe. The distribution of other "resources", e.g. slaughterhouses, may be seen as reflecting the continuing impact of chiefdom politics within the town as a whole. 18) I was told that it was not possible to build "grass huts" in town as they were a fire risk, but it is also possible that this "law" was enforced by the local paramount chiefs to ensure that Kabala appeared "civilised". On the outskirts of town were a number of small settlements in which the traditional circular hut was the predominant house-type.

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19) Population Statistics. a) National census figures. (Central Statistics Office 1981) Date Kabala Yogomaia Total 1963 4610 1179 5789 1974 7847 2488 10335 b) Additional census information. In 1953, a household survey was carried out for Yogomaia and the court barracks. The following information has been adduced from the hand-written census enumeration sheets located at the District Office. A total of 106 households were counted, of which 73 were in Yogomaia. Of these 73 households, 26 were recorded as Fula, 24 as Koranko, 19 as Mandingo and 4 others. The total population figure for Yogomaia and the barracks is given as 971. For Yogomaia alone, the figure is 733. The total Fula population for Yogomaia is 327. There is some confusion as to the interpretation of these census figures. Harvey, for example, takes the 4610 figure to include both Yogomaia and Kabala.(Harvey 1967) Elsewhere this figure is used solely for Kabala town.(e.g.Central Statistics Office 1981) Another household survey was completed between 1968-1969, (Central Statistics Office 1969) but again it is not clear whether "Kabala" should be taken to include Yogomaia. The survey is clearly based on a sample, but the size of the sample is not given. Nonetheless the figures given do seem reasonably accurate. "Tribal affiliation" Households (%) Temne Limba Mende Fula Mandingo Susu Lokko Creole Kuranko Others 12.8 20.0 1.6 26.4 22.4 2.4 3.2 2.7 4.0 6.4 Total 100

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Finally, a base-line survey was carried out in Yogomaia by the KIADP during 1983. At the time of my visit the figures had not yet been analysed. The survey questionnaire did not ask for the informants' ethnic identity, although their names were collected. By identifying and counting the Fula surnames I roughly estimated that Fula households made up between a quarter to a third of the total number of households. Methodologically unsound perhaps, but more or less in accordance with my own estimates.

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