310 THE COPAL OF EASTERN AFRICA. 



mku or akida'ao (mucaddum — headman), who, by distributing the stock, 

 contrives to gain more and to labour less than the others. In the interior 

 it is exploited by the Washenzi, or heathen, who work independently of one 

 another. When there is no blood-feud, they carry it down to the coast ; 

 otherwise they must await the visits of petty retail dealers from the ports, 

 who enter the country with ventures of ten or twelve dollars, and barter for 

 it cloth, beads, and wire. The kosi — south-west or rainy monsoon — is the 

 only period of work ; the kaskazi, or dry season, is a dead time. The 

 hardness of the ground is too much for the energies of the people : moreover, 

 " kaskazi copal" gives trouble in washing, on account of the sand adhering 

 to its surface, and the flakes are liable to break. As a rule, the apathetic 

 Moslem and the futile heathen will not work whilst a pound of grain 

 remains in their huts. The more civilised use a little jembe or hoe, an 

 implement about as efficient as the wooden spades with which an English 

 child makes dirt-pies. The people of the interior " crow" a hole about 

 six inches in diameter with a pointed stick, and scrape out the loosened 

 earth with the hand as far as the arm will reach. They desert the digging 

 before it is exhausted ; and although the labourers could each, it is calcu- 

 lated, easily collect from ten to twelve pounds per diem, they prefer sleeping 

 through the hours of heat, and content themselves with as many ounces. 

 Whenever upon the coast there is a blood-feud — and these are uncommonly 

 frequent — a drought, a famine, or a pestilence, workmen strike work, and 

 cloth and beads are offered in vain. It is evident that the copal-mine can 

 never be regularly and efficiently worked as long as it continues in the 

 hands of such unworthy miners. The energy of Europeans, men of 

 capital and purpose, settled on the seaboard with gangs of foreign work- 

 men, would soon remedy existing evils ; but they would require not only 

 the special permission, but also the protection, of the local government. 

 And although the intensity of the competition principle amongst the 

 Arabs has not yet emulated the ferocious rivalry of civilisation, the new 

 settlers must expect considerable opposition from those in possession. 

 Though the copal diggings are mostly situated beyond the jurisdiction of 

 Zanzibar, the tract labours under all the disadvantages of a monopoly : the 

 diwans, the heavy merchants, and the petty traders of the coast derive from 

 it, it is supposed, profits varying from 80 to 100 per cent. Like other 

 African produce, though almost dirt-cheap, it becomes dear by passing 

 through many hands, and the frasilah, worth from one to three dollars in 

 the interior, acquires a value of from eight to nine dollars at Zanzibar. 



