$24^ Value of beads. [1820v 
wished to have understood. The inhabitants of 
Kurreechane have no other lights at night except 
those which proceed from their fires. 
The people were greatly disappointed by our 
not having brought beads to exchange with them 
for cattle and elephants' teeth. Beads are the 
only circulating medium or money in the interior 
of South Africa. They answer the same purpose 
as cowrie shells in India and North Africa, or as 
guineas and shillings in Britain. The chief wealth 
of the Bootshuana and Morolongs, like that of 
more civilized nations, is hoarded up in their 
coffers, waiting for a favourable opportunity to 
make purchases, and I apprehend that the greatest 
danger to travellers exploring the country, arises 
from an apprehension, on the part of the nation, 
that, if permitted to travel into the interior, they 
would spoil the market for beads, as every nation 
through which these articles pass derives a profit 
on them from the nation beyond. Beads made of 
thin glass, which are easily broken, however 
beautiful they may be, are of no more value, in 
their estimation, than coin, if liable to evapora- 
tion or dissolution would be in a civilized 
country. Buttons, especially white ones, and 
clasp knives are approaching towards the value 
of beads. Red handkerchiefs and worsted night- 
caps of the same colour, though well received as 
presents, are of small value as articles of ex- 
