226 THE IVORY TRADE OP ZANZIBAR. 



for slaves brought from the interior ; of these, five or six represent the 

 value of a large tusk. The ivory of Unyamwezi is collected from the 

 districts of Mgunda Mk'hali, Usukuona, Umanda, Usagozi, and other 

 adjacent regions. When the " Land of the Moon" was first visited hy the 

 Arabs, they purchased, it is said, ten frasilah of ivory with one frasilah of 

 the cheap white or blue porcelains. The price is now between thirty and 

 thirty-five dollars per frasilah in cloth, beads, and wire. The Africans, 

 ignoring the frasilah, estimate the value of the tusk by its size and quality ; 

 and the Arabs ascertain its exact weight by steelyards. Moreover, they 

 raise the weight of what they purchase to 48lbs., and diminish that which 

 they sell to 23jlbs., calling both by the same name, frasilah. When the 

 Arab wishes to raise an outfit, at Unyanyembe he can always command 

 three gorahs of domestics (locally worth thirty dollars) per frasilah of 

 ivory. Merchants visiting Karagwah, where the ivory is of superior 

 quality, lay in a stock of white, pink, blue, green, and coral beads, and 

 brass armlets, which must be made up at Unyanyembe, to suit the tastes of 

 the people. Cloth is little in demand, for one frasilah of beads and brass 

 wire they purchase about one and a half of ivory. At Kkokoro, the price 

 of tusks has greatly risen ; a large specimen can scarcely be procured under 

 forty doti of domestics, one frasilah of brass wire, and 100 fundo of 

 coloured beads. The tusks collected in tins country are firm, white, and 

 soft, sometimes running six frasilah (210 lbs.) The small quantity collected 

 in Ubena, Urori, and the regions east of the Tanganyika Lake, resembles 

 that of Khokoro. The ivory of Ujijiis collected from the provinces lying 

 around the northern end of the lake, especially from Urundi and Uvira. 

 These tusks have one great defect : though white and smooth, when 

 freshly taken from the animal, they put forth, after a time, a sepid-coloured 

 or dark brown spot, extending like a ring over the surface, which gradually 

 spreads and injures the texture. Such is the "jendai" or "gendai" ivory, 

 well known at Zanzibar ; it is apt to flake off outside, and is little prized on 

 account of its lightness. At Ujiji, tusks 'were cheap but a few years ago, 

 now they fetch an equal weight of porcelain or glass beads, in addition to 

 which the owners — they are generally many — demand from four- to eight 

 cloths. 



Competition, which amongst the Arabs is usually somewhat unscrupulous, 

 has driven the ivory merchant to regions far west of the Tanganyika, and 

 geography will thrive upon the losses of commerce. 



The process of elephant-hunting, .the complicated divisions of the 

 spoils, and the mode of transporting tusks to the coast, have freqently been 

 described. A quantity of ivory, as has appeared, is wasted in bracelets, 

 armlets, and other ornaments. This would not be the case were the imports 

 better calculated to suit the tastes of the people. At present the cloth- 

 stuffs are little prized, and the beads are not sufficiently varied for barba- 

 rians who, eminently fickle, require change by way of stimulants. The 

 Arabs seek in ivory six qualities ; it must be white, heavy, soft, thick — • 

 especially at the point gently curved — when too much curved it looses from 



