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THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



The coloured cloths may be divided into three kinds, — woollens, 

 cottons, and silks mixed with cotton. Of the former, the principal 

 varieties now imported are J oho or broadcloth ; of the second, 

 beginning with the cheapest, are Barsati, Dabwani, Jamdani, 

 Bandira, Shit (chintz), Khuzarangi, Ukaya, Sohari, Shali, 

 Taujiri, Msutu, Kikoi, and Shazar or Mukunguru; the mixed 

 and most expensive varieties are the Subai, De wli, Sabuni, Khesi, 

 and Masnafu, Travelling Arabs usually take a piece of baftah 

 or white calico as kafan or shrouds for themselves or their com- 

 panions in case of accidents. At Zanzibar the value of a piece 

 of 24 yds. is 1 dollar 25 cents. Blankets were at first imported 

 by the Arabs, but being unsuited to the climate and to the 

 habits of the people they soon became a drug in the market. 



Joho (a corruption of the Arabic Johh) is a coarse article, either 

 blue or scarlet. As a rule, even Asiatics ignore the value of 

 broadcloth, estimating it, as they do guns and watches, by the 

 shine of the exterior : the African looks only at the length of the 

 pile and the depth of the tint. The Zanzibar valuation of the 

 cheap English article is usually 50 cents (2s. Id.) per yard; in 

 the interior rising rapidly through double and treble to four 

 times that price, it becomes a present for a prince. At Ujiji 

 and other great ivory-marts there is a demand for this article, 

 blue as well as red ; it is worn, like the shukkah merkani, round 

 the loins by men and round the bosom by women, who, there- 

 fore, require a tobe or double length. At Unyanyembe there 

 are generally pauper Arabs or Wasawahili artisans who can 

 fashion the merchants' supplies into the kizbao or waistcoats 

 affected by the African chiefs in imitation of their more civilised 

 visitors. 



Of the second division the cheapest is the Barsati, called by 

 the Africans kitambi ; it is a blue cotton cloth, with a broad red 

 stripe extending along one quarter of the depth, the other three- 

 quarters being dark blue ; the red is either of European or Cutch 

 dye. The former is preferred upon the coast for the purchase of 

 copal. Of this Indian stuff there are three kinds, varying in size, 

 colour, and quality ; the cheapest is worth at Zanzibar (where, 

 however, like dabwani, it is usually sold by the gorah of two uzar 

 or loin-cloths) from 5 to 7 dollars per score; the second 

 10 dollars 50 cents; and the best 14 to 15 dollars. The 

 barsati in the interior represents the doti or tobe of Mer- 

 kani. On the coast it is a favourite article of wear with the 

 poorer freemen, slaves, and women. Beyond the maritime 

 regions the chiefs will often refuse a barsati, if of small dimen- 

 sions and flimsy texture. Formerly, the barsati was made of 



