THAI-. XI THE MARKETS OE THE WORLP 107 



umbrella, Birmingham padlocks, and gaudy Lancashire 

 kerchiefs. I have jostled my way throurjh the main 

 street of Leh, in Ladak, during the daily market held 

 in August and September, and havt! witnessed Yar- 

 kandis, Tibetans, Afghans, and Kashmiris rub shoulders 

 with the plainsmen of India, and barter wool ami gold, 

 numdas and silver, brick-tea and cojjper, hemp and 



4RKtT. Adis Ababa 



precious stones, rare skins and cjuaint tea-pots against 

 goods from Manchester and Birmingham, Germany and 

 America. I have bargained for a knife in the market- 

 square of Burgos and bought hobgoblin -looking toys 

 at a Burmese fair. I have counted cash off a string 

 to a Chinese market-woman, ami paid a Balti with 

 copper coins at two a farthing. But of all the strange 

 (mi[)oriums 1 have inspected, I think the great market- 

 place of the Emperor Menelik's capital is the most 

 interesting. There one obtains a truer notion of the pro- 

 ductive powers of the country, both in raw material and 



