TRADE — PRICES. 413 



much better. Thirty brass rings cost 10s. at Senna, £1 a1 

 Tete, and £2 beyond the tribes in the vicinity of Tete : 

 these are a good price for a penful of gold-dust of the 

 value of £2. The plantations of coffee, which, previous to 

 the commencement of the slave-trade, yielded one material 

 for exportation, are now deserted, and it is difficult to find 

 a single tree. The indigo (Indigofera argentea, the common 

 wild indigo of Africa) is found growing everywhere, and 

 large quantities of the senna-plant* grow in the village 

 of Tete and other parts; but neither indigo nor senna is 

 collected. Calumba-root, which is found in abundance in 

 6ome parts farther down the river, is bought by the 

 Americans, it is said, to use as a dye-stuff. A kind of 

 sarsaparilla, or a plant which is believed by the Portu- 

 guese to be such, is found from Londa to Senna, but has 

 never been exported. 



The price of provisions is low, but very much higher 

 than previous to the commencement of the war. Two 

 yards of calico are demanded for six fowls : this is con- 

 sidered very dear, because before the war the same quan- 

 tity of calico was worth twenty-four fowls. Grain is sold 

 in little bags made from the leaves of the palmyra, like 

 those in which we receive sugar. They are called panjas; 

 and each panja weighs between thirty and forty pounds. 

 The panja of wheat at Tete is worth a dollar, or five shil- 

 lings ; but the native grain may be obtained among the is- 

 lands below Lupata at the rate of three panjas for two yards 

 of calico. The highest articles of consumption are tea and 

 coffee, the tea being often as high as fifteen shillings a pound. 

 Food is cheaper down the river below Lupata, and previous 

 to the war the islands which stud the Zambesi were all in- 

 habited, and, the soil being exceedingly fertile, grain and 

 fowls could be got to any amount. The inhabitants disap- 

 peared before their enemies the Landeens, but are beginning 



* These appear to belong to Cassia acutifolia, or true senna of com- 

 merce, found in various parts of Africa ami India. — Dr. Hooker. 



3a* 



