The Manuscripts forming the present collection were obtained in different parts of the Hausa States of Western Central Africa, the first three by my brother the late Rev. John Alfred Robinson, and the remainder by myself. The issue of the present volume is a firstfruit of the work of the “Hausa Association” which was formed in 1891 “for the purpose of promoting the study of the Hausa language and people.” The original MSS. are on paper of Egyptian manufacture, which had been brought by native caravans across the Sahara. The paper of the originals is much discoloured, and great credit is due to Messrs Nop and Co. of London for the skilful way in which nothing but the actual writing has been reproduced. The reproduction represents the exact size of the original MSS. My special thanks are due to the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press for having undertaken the publication of the present volume. It is hoped that its publication will be followed ere long by that of a grammar and a dictionary, both of which are in course of preparation.