Chap. LXIII. 
PACK-OXEN. 
347 
a man of a very powerful frame. Several small pre- 
sents were necessary to satisfy them all. Besides, 
as the two pack-oxen which I had hired the day before 
were to return from this place, I had to buy here two 
animals myself ; and I had great difficulty, in the 
course of the following day, in concluding a bargain : 
but I at length succeeded in buying one bull, with 
a tobe worth here 6000 shells, and a turkedi of in- 
ferior quality worth 2000 ; and a second one, with 
three haf worth 4000, together with a turkedi worth 
3500. This was not, however, their real value, but 
the price fixed by El Walati, who had himself a 
profit of at least fifty per cent. He also was the sole 
cause of my being detained here so long, as he wanted 
to sell the mare which he had brought with him from 
Bulanga ; for horses constitute the chief article of 
trade with these people, and small Fiilbe traders, or 
rather Jawambe or Zoghoran, visit them continually, 
bringing horses from Sofara and the country of Burgu, 
where the best animal fetches not more than about 
30,000 shells, and bartering them with these people 
for cattle, and the first evening of our arrival a nu- 
merous troop of these native traders arrived. It was 
here that I observed, for the first time, some of the 
Tawarek clad entirely in shirts made of leather, which 
they are skilful in preparing. 
The bargaining being at length concluded, Stinda 
we got ourselves in readiness to pursue our Au s -ust 14th - 
journey, when a violent thunder-storm, gathering from 
the north, kept us back till nearly noon. We at length 
