CONCLUSION. In conclusion, I shall summarise what I have attempted to achieve in writing this thesis. The backbone of this study is a biographical account of Haja Aisaitu Bah. Haja was born into a family of wealthy traditional cattle herders. Her early years were spent with her close family in a small isolated cattle camp. Here the rhythm of life changed from season to season, as Haja's family moved from hill-slope to valley bottom in a limited, but significant, pattern of transhumance. Every few years the camp was moved to a new site, to exploit new pastures or, perhaps, to avoid conflict with the indigenous farming community. During her early years, Haja learnt to milk and to cook, to keep a neat and tidy house and all the skills that were required in later married life. But Haja's marriage effected a far greater change than she could have predicted, for through her marriage to Alimamy Jalloh, a wealthy Futa trader, Haja was introduced to urban life and a new way of living. With her husband's support, and encouraged by the kindness of her senior co-wives, Haja moved to Kabala, which was to become her home. Alimamy Jalloh was made District Fula Headman, and Haja benefited from her husband's position of authority in a number of ways. Through his wealth and status, she lived a comfortable life. Furthermore, Alimamy Jalloh encouraged Haja to trade and to support herself. With her husband's assistance, Haja became a successful trader in rice, she developed a large herd of cattle and she built houses in town, which she rented out. In recent years, other Fula from 'traditional' pastoral sub-groups have started to settle in Kabala and move, as Haja said, "from cattle to concrete". Within Kabala, Fula sub-group identities are of decreasing significance and are being subsumed within a more general "Fula" identity. The greatest misfortune in Haja's life was that she did not give birth. Nonetheless, through fostering she was able to surround herself with young dependants, usually, but not exclusively, the children of kinsmen. After the death of Alimamy Jalloh, Haja formed her own household made up of dependants and, in most respects, Haja's house acted and sounded like any other. But there were problems. Without the support of Alimamy Jalloh, Haja found it increasingly difficult to maintain control of her property and, in particular, her cattle upon which she relied to support her dependants. Haja's right to manage her herd was contested by her kinsmen who argued that, since she had no children of her own, her property would come to them in any case. Haja resisted these claims as best she could, but was restricted in her efforts to handle her own affairs by the expectation that in Fula society "a man has to go before"; it is, thus, difficult for a woman to maintain control of her property without the intermediacy of a man. Through a detailed, though by no means exhaustive, discussion of Haja's life, I have attempted to convey my understanding of some aspects of Fula social organisation in Kabala and its environs. To ensure that Haja was seen in a proper social context, I have found it useful to shift, from time to time, the focus of my discussions away from the particular facts concerning her life to general observations on Fula society. Thus

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whilst the thesis moves around the subject of "Haja Aisaitu Bah", the focus is, at times, shifted from her to other characters to illuminate aspects of Fula social organisation, in particular cattle trading and livestock development, that could not be so easily dealt with by using Haja as the sole vehicle of explanation. Nonetheless, in every case, these "supporting characters" were close acquaintances. In this manner, I have attempted to portray a picture of Fula society in northern Sierra Leone; but it is just one picture among the many portraits and landscapes that remain to be drawn.

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