132 
THE GUM TRADE. 
settle the customs* and which are to be paid by the mer- 
chants. Any difficulties which arise are settled between 
them and the commander of the vessel on the station. 
When a merchant ship arrives at the port, she remains 
at anchor in the middle of the river till the duty is fixed j 
a point which is seldom settled without a long discussion, 
for the Moors always persist in the hope of gaining some 
advantage, though the tax is governed by the tonnage of 
the vessel ; it is often necessary to have recourse to the king 
to terminate the dispute. It is not till the agreement has been 
signed that business can be transacted, and the aloums (or 
Moorish agents) watch on the shore, to see that no gum is 
taken on board. These same agents watch the vessels when 
their right to trade is suspended. 
The duties which the merchants pay are considerable, 
A vessel capable of carrying from twenty-five to thirty 
thousand pounds of gum pays in general one hundred and 
twenty or one hundred and thirty pieces of Guinea clothf in 
fixed customs ; to this may be added three or four pieces 
more in the shape of presents to the princes, which they 
call their supper, and two or three for the aloums, who, if 
they were not feed, would give the preference to other 
vessels. 
All the preliminaries being settled, the ship begins to 
trade ; she approaches the shore, to which a bridge is 
thrown to facilitate the communication ; the trader has a 
hut built on the beach where the women whose business it 
is to pound the millet are lodged \ where all cooking opera- 
* Nobody is admitted to traffic without paying customs or dues ; 
which are proportioned to the tonnage of the vessel and the value of 
the goods traded for. Government pays duty annually to all the princes on 
the banks of the river, with whom the inhabitants of St. Louis have 
dealings, to secure protection for their commerce, 
t Worth about £ 166 sterling. 
