VII 



TRAVELS IJV EASTERN- AFRICA 



him of it ; that, in fact, we preferred younger and 

 stronger animals, even though lacking in the histori- 

 cal interest attached to this one. Lokomogul eyed 

 us sharply, exchanged glances with his two fellow- 

 chiefs, and said : " If you wish to buy any camels, 

 you must buy this one first." 



It then dawned upon Lieutenant von Hohnel and 

 me that we had formed too high hopes of the Ren- 

 dile, and that the matter of trade with them was 

 likely to be productive of difficulty and perhaps strife. 



We having refused to purchase that camel, Loko- 

 mogul refused to take any further part in the pro- 

 ceedings. Lomoro, however, said he had two young 

 camels, the flower of his flock ; but that he did not 

 wish to bring them near our zeriba, and for some 

 reason or other had left them a few hundred yards 

 away. We went out to see them ; and my Somali 

 burst into laughter at sight of them, and said they 

 were undersized runts, and unable to bear burdens. 

 They were about the size of a horse. We again 

 shook our heads. Lomoro shook his head, stamped 

 his feet, and asked what sort of people we were ; it 

 seemed impossible to please us. We asked if such 

 were the only camels they had to sell. They re- 

 plied : " Yes ; the Rendile do not sell their camels." 



After further conversation, they said they were 

 ready to begin trade in donkeys. The price they 

 asked was ridiculous ; they wished sixty yards of 

 heavy American sheeting for each animal. They 

 measured cloth in the same manner as all other peo- 

 ple in East Africa; that is, from the elbows to the 

 tips of the fingers — and a dwarf is never selected as 



