THE IVORY TRAFFIC OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 679 



is usual for a newly-elected Turner to express his sense of the honour and 

 dignity conferred upon him by a few appropriate remarks, and accordingly 

 Lieutenant Cameron stood forward, and with all that simple unaffected frank- 

 ness, which is the chief charm of great travellers, told his story about the 

 vast Continent which he has traversed. 



" What he had to say was, as is the custom of sailors, brief and to the 

 point. Africa is, he assured the Turners, the richest country in the world, 

 while — if it be only allowed a fair trial — its climate will be found more healthy 

 than that of even India itself. Its wealth, animal, vegetable, and mineral, is 

 practically inexhaustible. It is, in short, an El Dorado, which, if only pro- 

 perly worked, would in a few years, and in virtue of its own inherent resources, 

 develope into a vast and mighty Empire. He had seen, the newly-elected 

 Turner assured his brethren of the guild, whole districts abounding in ivory 

 and vegetable products, which only needed to be opened to commerce. He 

 had seen nutmegs lying about as unheeded as acorns, because the natives did 

 not know their value. He had seen gold, cotton, and oil-producing plants of all 

 kinds. He had even known of a case in which a quantity of gold dust and 

 small nuggets had been found in a water-hole ; but the natives had not thought 

 it worth their while to collect it, because it was in such small pieces. But, as 

 became the occasion and the interests of his audience, the gallant explorer 

 dwelt chiefly upon the ivory traffic, and pointed out at some length that, by 

 availing herself of the system of large rivers connected with the Congo, Eng- 

 land would be able ' to tap the ivory country,' and that a new impetus would 

 thus be given to the ancient craft of ' turning.' Ivory, in short, is what 

 Lieutenant Cameron evidently regards as the great export of Central Africa, 

 ranking in value far above even its spices or its gold. It is, perhaps, only 

 natural that an African traveller should take this view, knowing, as he does, 

 the high price which good ivory commands in civilised countries, he will ine- 

 vitably be struck by its abundance in that vast terra incognita where the ele- 

 phant still roams at large. He will see huge tusks used as doorposts or props, 

 or even lying idle, or rotting under the vertical sun, and will think with re- 

 gret of the profits which could be made, if only a shipload of beads, pocket- 

 knives, tin kettles, and the like, could be bartered against its bulk of this 

 scarce and precious product of nature. 



" There are, however, two sides to every question, and when Lieutenant 

 Cameron invited the Turners to look at the grand prospect of 'tapping the 

 ivory country,' it may be doubted whether he fully considered that the pro- 

 bable consequence of realising that anticipation would be a war of extermina- 

 tion against the elephant. Ivory is not, like iron or coal, a necessary of life. 

 It is simply an ohjet de luxe, and almost the only manufactures for which it is 

 absolutely indispensable are those of artificial teeth, plates for miniature- 

 painters, and billiard balls. Ivory paper-knives, brush handles, napkin rings, 



