28 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
Chai». XXII. 
Friday, Still another day of halt, in order, as I 
January i7th. was told, to allow Haj 'Abdiiwa's salt-caravan 
to come up and join us. Being tired of the camp, I 
once more went into the town to spend my day use- 
fully and pleasantly ; leaving all my people behind, I 
was accompanied by some of my fellow-travellers of 
^.the caravan. Arriving at Overweg's quarters, what 
was my surprise to find Farraji not yet gone, but 
endeavouring to persuade my companion, with all the 
arts of his barbarous eloquence, that though I should 
not go, he at least might, in which case he would be 
amply rewarded with the many fine things which 
had been prepared in Zmder for our reception. The 
poor fellow was greatly cast down when he saw me, 
and soon made off in very bad humour, while I went 
with Overweg to El Wakhshi, who was just occu- 
pied in that most tedious of all commercial trans- 
actions in these countries, namely, the counting of 
shells; for in all these inland countries of Central 
Africa the cowries or kurdi (Cyprcea moneta) are 
not, as is customary in some regions near the coast, 
fastened together in strings of one hundred each, but 
are separate, and must be counted one by one. Even 
those " takrufa" (or sacks made of rushes) containing 
20,000 kurdi each, as the governors of the towns 
are in the habit of packing them up, no private indi- 
vidual will receive without counting them out. The 
general custom in so doing is to count them by fives, 
in which operation some are very expert, and then, 
according to the amount of the sum, to form heaps of 
