410 THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



which they sell to 23*50 lbs., calling both by the same name, 

 frasilah. When the Arab wishes to raise an outfit at Unyan- 

 yembe he can always command three gorahs of domestics (locally 

 worth 30 dollars) per frasilah of ivory. Merchants visiting 

 Karagwah, where the ivory is of superior quality, lay in a stock 

 of white, pink, blue, green, and coral beads, and brass armlets, 

 which must be made up at Unyanyembe to suit the tastes of 

 the people. Cloth is little in demand. For one frasilah of 

 beads and brass wire they purchase about one and a half of ivory. 

 At K'hokoro the price of tusks has greatly risen ; a large speci- 

 men can scarcely be procured under 40 doti of domestics, one 

 frasilah of brass wire, and 100 fundo of coloured beads. The 

 tusks collected in this country are firm, white, and soft, some- 

 times running 6 farasilah (210 lbs.) The small quantity col- 

 lected in Ubena, Urori, and the regions east of the Tanganyika 

 Lake, resembles that of K'hokoro. 



The ivory of Ujiji is collected from the provinces lying 

 around the northern third of the lake, especially from Urundi 

 and Uvira. These tusks have one great defect; though white 

 and smooth when freshly taken from the animal, they put forth 

 after a time a sepia-coloured or dark brown spot, extending like 

 a ring over the surface, which gradually spreads and injures the 

 texture. Such is the " Jendai" or (i Gendai" ivory, well known 

 at Zanzibar: it is apt to flake off outside, and is little prized on 

 account of its lightness. At Ujiji tusks were cheap but a few 

 years ago, now they fetch an equal weight of porcelain or glass 

 beads, in addition to which the owners — they are generally 

 many — demand from 4 to 8 cloths. Competition, which amongst 

 the Arabs is usually somewhat unscrupulous, has driven the 

 ivory merchant to regions far west of the Tanganyika, and 

 geography will thrive upon the losses of commerce. 



The process of elephant-hunting, the complicated division of 

 the spoils, and the mode of transporting tusks to the coast, have 

 already been described. A quantity of ivory, as has appeared, 

 is wasted in bracelets, armlets, and other ornaments. This 

 would not be the case were the imports better calculated to suit 

 the tastes of the people. At present the cloth-stuffs are little 

 prized, and the beads are not sufficiently varied for barbarians 

 who, eminently fickle, require change by way of stimulant. The 

 Arabs seek in ivory six qualities : it must be white, heavy, soft, 

 thick — especially at the point — gently curved — when too much 

 curved it loses from 10 to 14 per cent. — and it must be marked 

 with dark surface-lines, like cracks, running longitudinally to- 

 wards the point. It is evident from the preceding details that 



