FACTORS IN NATIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. 519 



tjides were obtained from the Natives in exchange for beads, 

 buttons, and brass wire, and in consequence large numbers of 

 speculators were attracted, and the keen competition reduced 

 the profits. Then, again, the stocks of ivory that had been 

 accumulating for years began to give out, and the novelty of the 

 beads began to wear off, and in consequence the fashion in 

 beads changed frequently and quite capriciously, 



and required for its jndulgence a more expansive kind, the shape, 

 colour, and size of which varied with ahnost every succeeding fair. The 

 consequence of these combined circumstances was the failure of most 

 of the traders in 1826; who, without experience, laid in large stores of 

 a particular kind of bead which appeared especialh' to catch the fancy 

 of the admiring savage ; and thus contracted ruinous debts to the mer- 

 chants for an article which the Kaffirs speedily ceased to desire, and which 

 was valueless to any other person. Those of tlie traders who were able to 

 weather the storm, having at length learned prudence, soon made the 

 traffic advantageous . . . and the Kaffir fair may now be relied on as 

 one of the most important and certain resources of the Eastern Pro- 

 vince."* 



Through all the succeeding years the bead has retained a 

 not unimportant place in the Kaffir trade, though of course many 

 other articles share that place in these days. The one great 

 disadvantage remains now, as ever, that the fashion in beads is 

 constantly and capriciously changing to suit a passing whim ; 

 nevertheless one may safely generalise to the extent of saying 

 that full many a good bargain has been made by reason of a 

 judicious present of beads to some chief or headman, and doubt- 

 less many a serious and dangerous disagreement as between white 

 and black has been solved along similar lines. It will never be 

 known how often the eninity of some dangerous witch-doctor, 

 or chief, who might even have contemplated embarking upon a 

 war of vengeance, has been turned aside by this simple means by 

 some kind-hearted trader acting with sublime unconsciousness 

 of the pendant sword of Damocles. 



Enough, however, has been said to indicate that even if 

 unrealised, then, as now, this factor has played some part in the 

 development of the intercourse and trade between white and 

 black. Speaking broadly, some £17,000 worth of beads are still 

 imported into the Union annually. 



IV. — The Communications. 



The concluding division of our study is concerned with the 

 development of communications throughout the length and 

 breadth of the vast and sparsely populated country. We shall 

 confine our attention in the main to the ship and the wheel, 

 though really a variety of realised and unrealised factors have 

 been at work connecting place with ])lace, and speeding up com- 

 munications. 



(i) The Ship was responsible for the discovery of the Cape 

 — in itself an achievement of sufficient importance to cause the 

 downfall of Venice and Genoa, and to be largely contributory to 

 the remarkable movements in European history, in which Portugal 



* Kay, o/>. cit., 450. 



