H.R. Palmer's Gazetteer of Bornu Province is what one expects from the works of Palmer. The colonial administrator moonlighting as a scholar is more of the former here in terms of presenting information of all types on colonial Borno in the 1920s. Thus, beyond his usual far-fetched theories of Hamitic migration/conquest illustrated with questionable linguistic evidence and problematic, forced correspondence of legends and myths of origins across a vast swathe of Sahelian Africa (the Kanuri rulers are ultimately traced back to Kush and the Hamites), Palmer also presents information on the roads of Kanem, taxation, residents, and brief histories of the various emirates within Bornu province. Thus, the people of Biu, Fika, Potiskum and the Bedde receive brief attention here, although their deeper history is nowhere treated as seriously as that of the Kanuri and Kanembu.
There are few interesting observations of ethnological and historical interest, of course. For instance, Palmer viewed the Sao as some sort of singular state or kingdom, with a main capital near the site of Dikwa at N'difu, ruling for 400 years before transferring their court to N'galla. The Manga people, are also described as being a servile class, descendants of slaves of Kanem's rulers, who adopted the Kanuri language and ways. In addition, Palmer noted a weakness of "national" feeling in precolonial Borno. Thus, even the Sugurti Kanembu who supposed al-Kanemi when he seized power in Borno later turned against his dynasty in the 1840s when Wadai supported the Sayfawa candidate Ali Dalatumi against the Shehu. Intriguingly, Palmer likewise raises attention to a mallam, named Buki, who led an "unarmed rabble" against Rabeh in the 1890s, which is yet another fascinating moment in which mallams played a role in popular movements.
In terms of other peoples and emirates in the province, all are in the shadow of Borno, even if independent or largely so. Biu, for example, remembered the first ma as Yamta ra Wala, who was said to have been born in Birni Gazargamo. Unsurprisingly, the rulers of Biu sent gifts to the ruler of Borno as well. The Bedde and Ngizim are also linked to Borno through Kanem, where they are said to have come from. As for the other groups, such as the Koyam and Tubu, Palmer forces everything through his Hamitic theory's lens, trying to connect the koyam to the Tuareg and the clans which later came to rule Kanem and Borno to the Kushites of Yam and Nubia. It's a wild ride, but one familiar to anyone who has Bornu Sahara and Sudan. Palmer certainly had a creative imagination!