Hi Jim,
Thanks for the article recommendation - unfortunately I can't seem to locate the extract of Nigerian Panoply online - it sounds fascinating however.
I've been looking for a reasonably priced copy of Spring's for sometime, unfortunately as it is out of print, the last quote I received from a book dealer here in Prague was somewhat astronomical.
Is the article on takouba blades you mentioned by Briggs part of the "Tribes of the Sahara" volume? My apologies for so many questions but obviously my library needs to grow!
However I did find an interesting, if slightly out of the period we are discussing, article available in it's entirety online on pre-Colonial Hausa states and warefare.
http://jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ki...ala%20ACHI.pdf
Best,
Iain