Ill Wildest Africa ^ 



chief Sedenga at 'Mkaramo on tin; Pagani River, to obtain 

 permission for the passage of his caravan. lOO pieces 

 of cloth, each six yards long, an axe, too leaden bullets, 

 one ten-pound keg of gunpowder, two large coils of brass 

 wire, and eight pounds' weight of artificial pearls ! 



Only two kinds of caravans were known to the Masai, 

 slave caravans and trading caravans, which busied them- 

 selves with collecting the coveted ivory tusks. The Arab 

 traders knew how to combine the two objects : the slaves, 

 the "black ivory" of the trade, were forced to carry the 

 white ivory down to the coast. 



The strength of these trading caravans, well equipped 

 with firearms, always amounted to several hundred men ; 

 but under certain circumstances these nmnbers were 

 considerably increased, so that caravans of a thousand men 

 or even more were not rare. It took Fischer long months 

 to recruit his caravan. The bearers did not like to under- 

 take the dangerous journey vi^ith the first white man who 

 started for that region. The jealousy of the Arab traders 

 was also at work. They feared that the channels of the 

 ivory traffic, which they carefully kept secret, might be 

 revealed. 



The German explorer carric:d through his ex[)edition 

 und(;r the greatest difficulties. He returned home only 

 to succumb soon after to the extraordinary hardships 

 he had enchired. 



Fischer's researches were of special importance in 



connection with the ornithology of Masailand.' His 



journey gave to science some thirty-six hitherto unknown 



^ Cf. Reich enow, Die I'ogi-l Afrikas. 



8 



