i8o AFRICAN POLITICAL SYSTEMS
either case, the dominion of the Kede delegate would stretch some way up and down the river, comprising hamlets and villages on (formerly) both banks. The 'native' villagers live under their own chief and elders, and are on the whole left to themselves, except for the political obligations towards the Kede rulers. In the carrying out of these obligations (to be examined presently), village chief and elders become mere subordinates of the Kede government. The Kede families, on the other hand, which live in the district of the delegate are his subjects in a different sense. They too have their obligations towards the government which he represents. But they share to some extent his privileged official position vis-a-'vis the 'natives' of the country. The family heads of these Kede families assume certain titles in Nupe fashion, which are to mark them as 'elders' of their community. In this case, however, these are not the usual village ranks, nor are they tici nya Kuta ('ranks of the Kutc?}, but are of the order of personal or 'household* ranks, which the Kede delegate may confer upon the family heads in 'his' town.
The official duties of the delegate relate to the three main concerns of Kede administration. He is charged with the collection of taxes on behalf of the Kede chief, the maintenance of law and order in the districts, and he finally acts as the agent of the chief in all matters requiring concerted action of the tribe as a whole. The first two duties have undergone but comparatively minor changes under modern administration. The last duty, the most important aspect of which used to be-contribution to the fighting expeditions of the tribe, is reduced to-day to such relatively irrelevant activities as the arrangement of the periodical tours of inspection through Kede country of the Kede chief or the District Officer.
Taxation. The present system of taxation is based on an income tax on sliding scale, assessed among the Kede on the basis of the number of canoes owned. The tax is collected locally by the official Village Head, and is then transmitted by the District Head to the Native Administration Treasury in Bida. For Kede District read delegate for Village Head (a certain number of Kede 'delegates' having been made Village Heads under the Native Administration), and Kuta for District Head—in all other respects taxation among the Kede is the same as in the inland districts of the Emirate. This was not so in pre-British times. The kintsogi villages,