26 JACKSON, Use of Coivry-shells for Currency, Amulets, etc. 



on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika, they were seen 

 by Richard as head-ornaments or sewn on straps ; he also 

 observed them in use by the Nollo Nollo, living north 

 thereof, to ornament the forehead, neck and wrist ; in 

 the latter case, two shells were worn attached to the 

 middle of a thin strap, probably an amulet of some kind. 

 Among the Warua of the Upper Congo similar ornaments 

 were noticed. 85 



On the middle Congo cowries are a recognised cur- 

 rency about Lukolela, Ngowe, Matumba Lake, etc., being 

 used by the Balolo people. On the Mongalla, Thonner, 

 in 1896, found cowries the necessary legal tender for con- 

 tinuing his journey up the river and for the purchase of 

 food-stuffs. Wissmann, Wolf, and other travellers found 

 them highly estimated in the Kassai-Sankuru basin. 

 According to Wolf, in 1885, these shells together with a 

 black and white striped glass bead were used as barter- 

 material by the Baluba people of this region. 8 " 



In the Lunda Empire, the wooden plug set with 

 cowries at both ends, which the Wavira wear in their ears, 

 is hung by a string from the neck as an amulet. 8 ' 



According to Magyar, cloth in Kimbundaland, about 

 1850, was reckoned at from 25 to 50 cowries, or busio- 

 shells, per ell or yard, according to the distance from the 

 coast ; and this same observer tells us that the women of 

 the Mondumbe, inwards from Benguela, ornament their 

 hair with small white cowries {C. moneta ? Oliva ?). 88 



In describing the Ovambo, Ratzel (pp. cit., II. , p, 541) 

 informs us that they barter ivory for beads, iron, copper, 

 shells, and cowries, with the Portuguese-speaking black 

 traders on the further side of the Cunene River. Such 



35 Schneider, op. cit., various pages. 



86 Ibid. 



9 7 Ratzel, op. ciL, iii., p. 69. 



* 8 Schneider, op. cit., pp. 159 and 172. 



