CONQUEST OF SOKOTO AND KANO 439 the less were they likely to please Sokoto, and in the lower ranks the offence of working loyally with a British-appointed emir was scarcely likely to be less fatal, in the event of Sokoto ever regaining the upper hand, than to have worked with the British themselves.

The question of the future turned upon whether Great Britain or Sokoto were to be the permanent head of Haussaland. The Haussas have a proverb, "Only by fighting can the better man be found out " ; and the feeling was universal that a trial of strength would have to take place between the new power of the white man and the old power of the Fulani. Until it was decided which of the two was the stronger, no waverer knew on which side to cast in his lot. The result of conciliation on the part of the British had been vain. A letter, couched in friendly terms, which was sent to Sokoto in 1900 to announce the establishment of the British Administration on the river, was not answered, and the messenger who bore it was treated with indignity. The request made in 1901 that Sokoto would nominate the successor to the deposed Emir of Kontagora, was not complied with, and in May of 1902 a letter was addressed by Sokoto to the British High Commissioner, couched in the following terms : "I do not consent that any one from you should ever dwell with us. I will never agree with you ; I will have nothing ever to do with you. Between us and you there are no dealings, except as between Mussulmans and Unbelievers — war as God Almighty has enjoined upon us. There is no power or strength save in God on high." Kano, which was the strong place of Haussaland, possessing an organised army and a well-fortified town, gave evidence of its hearty support of the antagonistic attitude of Sokoto. While it was known throughout the Protectorate that the less important emirates of the south had been wholly unable to stand before British power, it was very generally believed by the natives