222 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



Some of the richer of the inhabitants have several 

 wives. A wife is looked upon more as a servant 

 or slave, to work upon the plantations, than as a 

 companion and friend. As soon as a man acquires 

 a suf^cient number of wives to work his plantations, 

 he ceases from labour, and spends the remainder of 

 his days in drinking honey wine and eating miraa, 

 which he gets from the Embe. 



Tobacco is not grown by these people. In fact, 

 this is the poorest of all the countries in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Jombeni range. As the Daitcho 

 are a weak people, and consequently not aggressive, 

 they receive frequent visits from the traders of the 

 coast, who go to them for the purpose of purchasing 

 food for their journey through the desert inhabited 

 by the Wanderobbo, from whom the traders purchase 

 ivory. From these frequent visits the Daitcho have 

 assumed the position of middle-men between the 

 wealthy Embe and the traders in the purchase of 

 donkeys. The donkeys are much in demand among 

 the Zanzibari traders for use as beasts of burden, 

 and are greatly prized by the Wanderobbo, who will 

 exchange a large tusk of ivor}^ and at times two, 

 for a donkey. 



During our stay at Daitcho, which lasted through- 

 out the rainy season, we were enabled to enter into 

 comparatively close relations with the natives, after 

 they had satisfied themselves that we had no hostile 

 intentions toward them ; but, owing to our conflicts 

 with the Wamsara and the Embe, the Daitcho seemed 

 loath to act as go-betweens in the trade which we 

 opened for donkeys. We found a Zanzibari cara- 



