n8 TRADE AND COMMERCE. 



trast to the elegantly draped Waganda. Unyoro, on the other 

 hand, draws a large part of its ivory from the western Lango 

 districts, where Kabrega's uncle, Naika, rules, and also from 

 the southern frontier lands, and from Lur, which still acknow- 

 ledges Kabrega's supremacy. Owing to imprudent measures 

 on the part of the Egyptian Government, all this ivory, 

 instead of following its natural outlet to the north, is still sent 

 to the south. The value of the ivory imported annually into 

 Unyoro and Uganda can only be approximately estimated ; at 

 all events, the complete extinction of this trade in Uganda from 

 want of ivory is not very far distant, and this holds true to a 

 less extent in regard to the Unyoro trade. 



Among the now neglected products which are likely in the 

 future to have a great commercial value, coffee stands first. 

 The coffee-tree, which apparently only differs from that in 

 Yemen by its somewhat larger leaves and more diminutive 

 growth, thrives almost everywhere in Southern Uganda and 

 Unyoro, and seems to be indigenous. Its name, mudni, which 

 is the same in Kiganda and Kinyoro, differs very little from 

 the names used for coffee in other parts of Africa — mbuni 

 (Kisuaheli), rnbitna (Abyssinian), bunn (Arabic). Till now coffee 

 can hardly be said to have been cultivated, for all that the 

 natives do is to keep the ground around the invariably small 

 trees free from weeds, otherwise leaving the plant to develop 

 naturally. The fruit, too, receives no particular attention ; the 

 pods are gathered when still green, are usually dipped in hot 

 water, and then laid out on mats to dry in the sun. Of course 

 the two berries contained in the pod remain green and unde- 

 veloped, but that does not signify, as a decoction is never made 

 from the berries. The dry pods are stored, and generally con- 

 sumed without further preparation, but sometimes they are very 

 slightly roasted with a small piece of butter. Just as coffee 

 is offered to guests throughout the East, so in Uganda and 

 Unyoro politeness requires that strangers should be offered 

 a few of these pods to chew, and they are handed round in 

 elegant baskets of open wickerwork. The berries are rather 

 hard for the teeth of a European, and the shell has a strong 

 aromatic taste — in Yemen a very delicious drink is made 

 from it. The natives maintain that chewing coffee-berries 



