WAGES — TRADE — PRICES, 595 



is 2 yards of unbleached calico per day. They might be 

 got to work cheaper if engaged by the moon, or for about 

 1 6 yards per month. For masons and carpenters even, 

 the ordinary rate is 2 yards per day. This is called 

 braca. Tradesmen from Kilimane demand 4 bracas, or 

 8 yards, per day. English or American unbleached calico 

 is the only currency used. The carriage of goods up the 

 river to Tete, adds about 10 per cent, to their cost. The 

 usual conveyance is by means of very large canoes and 

 launches built at Senna. 



The amount of merchandise brought up during the five 

 months of peace previous to my visit, was of the value of 

 30,000 dollars, or about £6000. The annual supply of 

 goods for trade is about £15,000, being calico, thick brass- 

 wire, beads, gunpowder, and guns. The quantity of the 

 latter is, however, small, as the Government of Mozam- 

 bique made that article contraband, after the commence- 

 ment of the war. Goods, when traded with in the tribes 

 around the Portuguese, produce a profit of only about 

 10 per cent., the articles traded in being ivory and gold- 

 dust. A little oil and wheat are exported, but nothing 

 else. Trade with the tribes beyond the exclusive ones 

 is much better. Thirty brass rings cost 10s. at Senna, 

 £1 at 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 some parts further 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 Portuguese to be such, is found from 

 XfOnda 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- 



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

 commerce, found in various parts of Africa and India. — Dr. Hooker, 



