Chap. XLIX. BECOMING RETAIL DEALER. 
381 
hardly possessing anything except a small quantity of 
needles, I was obliged to send one of my servants 
daily to the market, in order to endeavour, by means of 
that very trifling article of European industry, to 
obtain the currency of the country. The currency 
of Bagirmi consists in strips of cotton, or farda, 
like those which I have described on my journey to 
A'damawa — of very irregular measures, longer or 
shorter, in general of two " dra " length, and a hand in 
width — but of very different quality. Larger articles 
are bought and sold with shirts, "khalag (pL khol- 
gan"), as they are called by the Arabs, "bol," as they 
are called by the natives, the value of which, according 
to their size and quality, varies from 70 to 150 farda. 
I obtained a farda for one large English darning- 
needle, or for four common German needles ; but after- 
wards I doubled the price. Besides these I had very 
little left, with the exception of a few looking-glasses 
of that round kind which are sold in Lyons for one sou 
each, and which I sold here for the high price of one 
shirt or " khalag," while a better sort of looking-glass, 
bought in London for eightpence, brought four khalag 
or kholgan, which are worth about a dollar. As for 
shells, called here "kerne-kerne," they have no cur- 
rency in the market, but form a merchandise by 
themselves, as an article of export into the pagan 
countries — at least those of larger size, which are in 
great request with the inhabitants of those countries 
as well as with the Welad Kashid, it being said that 
2,000 will fetch a young slave of the kind called 
