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TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 



353 



as all my men were needed to carry food. They said : 

 " Buy the ivory, and leave it with us, and when you 

 return, or send a man with some token to these parts, 

 we will deliver it to him." My Masai interpreters, 

 who had traded with the Wanderobbo, said that, 

 strange though it might seem, the Wanderobbo never 

 broke their promises to traders ; and if they sold a 

 tusk to a man, they would keep it for him until he 

 returned for it or sent some one with a recoonized 

 token. In former times the Wanderobbo used to sell 

 ivory to traders in exchange for beads, wire, and 

 cloth, which they in turn exchanged with the Masai 

 for cattle, goats, and sheep ; but since the plague had 

 destroyed the flocks of the Masai, and dispersed the 

 people, the Wanderobbo, in place of beads, wire, and 

 cloth, demanded sheep, goats, flour, and beans. 



The trading is carried on in this peculiar manner: 

 Upon the arrival of a caravan at a Wanderobbo vil- 

 lage, presents are showered upon the natives, and the 

 question is then asked : " Have you ivory } " The 

 natives usually tell the truth, and state whether or 

 not they have ivory ; but sometimes they conceal the 

 fact, as they are often indebted to the traders, and 

 keep the tusks for them until they return. The ivory, 

 unless very small, is not taken to their villages, but 

 is buried where the elephant fell. If the native asks 

 for a present, before he will show the whereabouts of 

 the ivory, it is an indication that the tusks are large ; 

 in which case he gets a gift of wire, beads, or food, 

 both before and after bringing the ivory. When the 

 presents have been given (among which tobacco is a 

 sine qua 7i07i), then, and not until then, trade begins. 



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