HERE PETERMANN. 



61 



say, persistent book-making and map-drawing, 

 he, and not Mr Alexander Findlay, received, in 

 1867, the Pounder's medal of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society ; and I can only say that in 

 this case the gift has gone cheap, and has been 

 easily gained, as what is called in familiar Erencli 

 ' un crachat.' 



Unlike the traveller, the merchant always 

 commands an entrance for his goods : if one 

 line be shut up, another forthwith opens itself. 

 Such we found this vear to be the case at Mom- 

 basah ; the western country has suddenly been 

 closed to Arabs and Wasawahili ; the north- 

 western has become as unexpectedly practicable. 

 On January 19 (1857) returned the van of a 

 large trading party, which had started for the 

 interior in September last. It was composed of 

 about 200 men — Arabs, Wasawahili, and slaves, 

 of whom 40 bore provisions, rice and maize, pulse, 

 sugar, and tobacco, whilst 150 armed with muskets 

 carried packs to the value of §3000 in ' Merkani ' 

 (American domestics), sheetings, longcloths, and 

 other stuffs ; green, white, and spotted beads, 

 knives, tin (bati); brass wires, and small chains, 

 with stores and comforts for the journey. After 

 19 days of actual marching, and sleeping out 24 

 nights, they reached Kitui, the farthest point 



