356 
SHELLS, THE COINAGE OF THE MAD1. 
numerous, so that they had the material for making 
themselves comfortable. The floors were of red clay, 
packed hard, and the thresholds of the doors the same, 
but paved or macadamised, with fragments of earthen- 
ware neatly inlaid. Many of the doorways had gate- 
posts, with bamboos as movable bars, which prevented 
goats or cattle entering. Upon the grass tops of the 
huts in Barwudi numbers of large univalve shells lay 
bleaching ; they were the same large, spiral species 
as those seen five degrees south of the equator. The 
natives cut them into circles the size of shirt-buttons, 
and string hundreds of them to be worn as ornamental 
white girdles round the waist. They formed the or- 
dinary coinage, and if beer or fowls were required they 
were used in the purchase. The value of labour was 
estimated in cows. The porters engaged by De Bono's 
party to carry their ivories were paid one small cow 
each for a journey of four marches, and they were ex- 
pected to carry a return load ; so that travelling in 
these parts is a difficult matter, unless you have plenty 
of camel and donkey carriage : the hire is always paid 
beforehand. It was amusing to observe the distribu- 
tion of the cattle, but it presented much the same 
scene as that witnessed at home in a cattle-market. 
Here the naked natives, mingling with the well- 
dressed Toorkees, as soon as they received their " one- 
cow hire," chased it away to be tied up in some secure 
place till their journey was completed. On arrival at 
one of the villages, I asked the Sheikh what his beer 
was like ; he made no reply, but at midnight he stole 
into our camp, passing our Seedee sentries, who were 
fast asleep, tapped Speke on the head, and then shook 
his hand to awake him. Speke immediately called 
