350 



ASSES AND CAMELS. 



the interior. I subsequently purchased thirty, 

 and the last died within six months of landing : 

 we then mounted Unyamwezi animals, and had 

 nothing to complain of. Asses are ridden, 

 as they always should be, upon the crupper; 

 the 6 huliis ' are rather pads than saddles, cov- 

 ered with thick cloths and black sheepskins ; no 

 one uses stirrups, and the bridle is the rudest of 

 contrivances. The price of donkeys ranges from 

 $15 to $100 : I bought a tolerable riding animal 

 f or $60, and I heard of one costing $350. 

 Finally, the Sayyid keeps for the use of his 

 plantation-mills a few miserable mangy camels 

 from Brava and Makdishu : they may be worth 

 $10 to $12 a-head. 



Mounted on the Prince's best we passed 

 through the town, where the long sharp poles 

 projecting from the low house-eaves are not 

 pleasant to those riding spirited nags. This 

 is the labour hour, and all are not inactive. 

 The weaver on his raised clay bench, and shaded 

 by his dwarf verandah, is engaged upon a turban, 

 whilst his neighbour converts copal, reddened by 

 cinnabar, into ear-rings and other ornaments. 

 The tinsmith and the Comoro blacksmith, with 

 the usual African bellows, are also at work ham- 

 mering at pots and pans, fashioning the normal 



