286 Men, Mines, and Animals in South Africa 



about 11. lO.s'. a-liead, donkeys at about 3/. lO.s., 

 and five waggons at about 50/. a-piece, or half their 

 orio'inal cost. Money seemed to be plentiful, and 

 the biddings were sustained with great spirit over 

 four days by a sm^dl crowd without coats or waist- 

 coats, and with shirt-sleeves rolled up (the regular 

 Mashonaland morning and evening dress), and en- 

 livened by constant chaff", joking, and general good 

 humour. There was great competition for red 

 white-eyed beads, which the savage fashion of 

 Mashonaland prescribed for native attire. Of 

 these I fortunately possessed a good quantity, and 

 there were none and had been none for some time 

 in the settlement ; accordingly they went for 12s. 

 a pound, their original cost price at Kimberley 

 being about Qd. for the same quantity. " Limbo," 

 the coarsest cotton material, manufactured at about 

 l^d. a yard at home, here sold for upwards of a 

 shilling. During this sale I realized with some 

 reo;ret that a laro;e and well-conducted tradino- ex- 

 pedition into this country would have been a far 

 more profitable speculation than gold prospecting. 

 The public life of the young and interesting com- 

 munity of Fort Salisbury had early commenced. 

 Some weeks before my arrival a meeting was sum- 

 moned for the purpose of considering the past 

 action and the policy of the Chartered Company. 

 The meeting was largely attended, and the pro- 

 ceedings were animated, at times stormy. Dis- 

 content had arisen mainly owing to the high cost 

 of living, and to some extent presumably to the 

 non-discovery of rich reefs. This smouldering 



