214 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



camp, and there was a nice brook. Soon after our 

 arrival, old men came and asked our intentions ; to 

 whom we gave assurance that we desired but three 

 things ; namely, peace, food, and donkeys. 



A small caravan of Zanzibari was encamped near 

 the villages of the Daitcho, buying donkeys. This 

 party was thirty in number, and composed entirely 

 of slaves. They had left Mombasa five months before, 



whence they had been sent by their masters to trade 

 for ivory. The method adopted in fitting out one of 

 these caravans is generally as follows. Several Arabs 

 get together and agree to enter into a loose partner- 

 ship for a trading journey into the interior. Each 

 member of the partnership furnishes a number of 

 slaves, generally from six to eight. He then gives 

 his note to some Hindoo or Banyan merchant for 

 such trading-goods as he supplies to his slaves for 

 purposes of barter. This note generally bears inter- 

 est at the rate of twelve per cent per annum, or one 



