0»iIGIN OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO. i-il 



barrier holds him in. At last he falls, overcome by numbers. Then 

 his great tusks are packed away, and a row of naked natives carry 

 them for days through the jungle, until they are placed in the king's 

 treasure as a part of the wealth as well as the currency of a nation. 



After a time traders appear, and the tusks are bartered for 

 bright nothings, old-fashioned and shop-worn fabrics, food, whisky 

 and firearms. There is another long period of transporting the 

 precious ivory on the backs of natives, with the constant danger 

 of attack from hostile tribes and the treachery of friendly ones. 

 At last it is aboard ship, and after weeks on the sea it arrives at the 

 great ports where it is sold to carvers and manufacturers. 



The best ivory comes from Africa. Some of the tusks are 

 from eight to ten feet long, and often weigh 170 pounds. The 

 Indian elephants' tusks are much shorter and of less weight, and 

 the great demand has reduced the supply to such an extent that it 

 is now rare to find a large tusk. Indian ivory is not so good in 

 quality as that from Africa. 



A TRAP FOR THE PRODUCER OF THE IVORY. 



Much of the ivory used in Russia and other parts of Europe 

 is found in northern Russia and Siberia, in the remains of pre- 

 historic mammoths. Where the skeletons have been always frozen 

 in the earth, the ivory is as good as the ordinary Indian product, 

 but much of it has been injured by exposure to the weather. Tusks 

 have been found which were more than 12 feet long and w^eighed 

 upwards of 200 pounds. 



The value of ivory rests mainly in its toughness, its elasticity, 

 and its quality of taking a high polish. It is filled with millions of 

 minute holes which give it an elasticity which no solid object could 

 ever have. In effect ivory is the same substance as the dentine of 

 the teeth, and it is unlike bone in having no channel for the passage 

 of blood. The teeth or tusks of the narwhal, sperm whale, walrus, 

 and hippopotamus are also used as ivory, but the quality is usually 

 poor. 



Great skill is required in buying tusks, for the external appear- 

 ance is most often deceptive. The inside may be full of abscesses 



