22 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



of the Msene Sultan, who lives between Unyanyembe 

 and Ujiji, and became great friends with us when 

 travelling there, paid me a visit to-day. He caught 

 me at work with my diary and instruments, and 

 being struck with veneration at the sight of my 

 twirling compass and literary pursuits, thought me a 

 magician, and begged that I would cast his horoscope, 

 divine the probable extent of his father's life, ascer- 

 tain if there would be any wars, and describe the 

 weather, the prospects of harvest, and what future 

 state the country would lapse into. The shrewd 

 Bombay replied, to save me trouble, that so great a 

 matter required more days of contemplation than I 

 could afford to give. Provisions were very dear when 

 purchased with white beads, for they were not the 

 fashion, and the people were indifferent to them. I 

 paid him one loin-cloth for four fowls and nine eggs, 

 though had I had coloured beads I might have pur- 

 chased one hen per khete (or necklace). Had this 

 been a cloth - wearing instead of bead - decorating 

 nation, I should have obtained forty fowls for one 

 shukka (or loin-cloth), that being the equivalent 

 value with beads, and, according to Zanzibar money, 

 would be one dollar. It is always foolish to travel 

 without an assortment of beads, in consequence of 

 the tastes of the different tribes varying so much, and 

 it is more economical in the long-run to purchase 

 high-priced than low-priced beads when making up 

 the caravan at Zanzibar, for every little trader buys 



