24 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



One of our first visits was to the market-place, at 

 the outskirts of which oxen were tethered awaiting 

 slaughter at the demand of a customer, for in that 

 hot climate butchers cannot kill before an immediate 

 sale is certain. It was too evident, however, that 

 there had recently been some such demand, for 

 fragments of raw meat thickly covered with flies 

 were on sale at the stalls. A good deal of it was 

 skewered on thin sticks, like crystallised sweetmeats 

 are at home ; and sometimes these are stuck in the 

 ground in a small circle round a fire, and thus the 

 meat is cooked. There was little besides food-stuffs 

 for sale, mostly vegetable ; but butter, too, was to 

 be found in large pails, which is a rare luxury in 

 this part of Africa — though Mastaba restrained us 

 from buying it, as he declared it to be unfit for a 

 white man's food. The smell was overpowering, and 

 millions of flies made the place unbearable ; so we 

 took long breaths at the end of each line of stalls, 

 and nearly suffocated ourselves in the effort to sur- 

 vive on as little air as possible. We were determined 

 not to miss any treasures, and did not shirk at all ; 

 but the only nice things were thick ivory bracelets 

 that we bought for the sum of 2s. 4d. a-piece. There 

 is more ivory to be had, and at a much cheaper rate, 

 in the Kamerun than in Nigeria, owing to the 

 double fact that in Nigeria the minimum legal weight 

 of tusks is 25 lb., compared to about 2 lb. in the 

 Kamerun ; and that the tax the British have im- 

 posed upon every tusk has driven the trade out of 

 our territory. 



Our plans were much under discussion. Captain 

 Schwarz did not wish us to go north, on account 



