46 



TRADE. 



and TJkamba-ni for iyory, and with the inner 

 tribes generally for hippopotamus' teeth, rhi- 

 noceros' horns, cattle, cereals, and provisions. 

 Slaves are brought from Zanzibar, natives of the 

 country about and south of Kilwa being pre- 

 ferred. The imports are chiefly cottons, glass, 

 beads, and hardware. There is no manufac- 

 turing industry, except a few cloths, hand-made 

 in the town. Besides Harar, Mombasah is the 

 only tropical African city which boasts an in- 

 digenous coinage. During the wars with Say- 

 yid Said, the Mazrui chief, finding a want of small 

 change, melted down a bronze cannon, and con- 

 verted it into pieces a little larger than our six- 

 pence. The bit, which bears on the obverse the 

 name of Mombasah, whilst the reverse assures 

 the owner that it is ' money,' was forcibly circu- 

 lated, and the value was established at an equiva- 

 lent to the measure (Kibabah) of Maize. Since 

 the fall of the Mazara this purely conventional 

 coin has fallen into disuse, and I was unable to 

 find specimens of it. 



