158 Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinhurgh. [sess. 
It is the custom for Arab traders when first arriving at the king’s 
seriba to make him a considerable present of guns and ammunition, 
after which trading commences, and it is only when the Arabs have 
finished bartering with the king and the great chiefs that they are 
permitted to trade with the people. Markets are lield once or twice 
a week in every group of villages ; the people collect in large 
numbers, and beer, salt, coffee-berries, spears, knives, hoes, tobacco, 
beans, butter, bark-cloth, sheep, goats, and sometimes cattle are 
brought for barter. The Wanyoro are keen at a bargain, and con- 
siderable time is usually required before an exchange of goods is 
effected. Although the disputes as to value are sometimes very 
lively, the people keep their tempers, and real quarrels are rare. 
The cowrie, “ simbi ” as it is called, serves as the standard money, 
or rather a string of 100 cowries. It is difficult to give the exact 
values of produce, as they vary so much according to season and the 
quantity brought for sale, but about 2 lbs. of flour costs 10 cowries, 
a sheep or a goat from 1300 to 1500, an ox from 4000 to 5000. 
It should be mentioned, however, that there are not nearly so many 
cowries in Unyoro as there are in Uganda, and ten or twelve years 
ago, when I was there, produce was exchanged — butter for beer, meat 
for tobacco, flour for skins, and the like. Girls and small boys are 
usually made the objects of private barter, and are not exposed for 
sale in the markets. The price varies considerably, the Wahuma 
girls being the dearest (see Marriage). All the goods which the 
Wanyoro bring to market are neatly packed either in baskets or in 
banana-leaf parcels, and after the market is over the people form 
into groups and gossip and drink their beer. 
Origin of the Wanyoro , — It seems to be undoubted that at present 
there are three fairly distinct classes of inhabitants in Unyoro — the 
old aboriginal inhabitants, the Wahuma or reigning families, and a 
mixture of the two. It is probable that the Wahuma came from 
the Galla country, crossed the Somerset Nile, and then either 
separated into two bands, the one going to Uganda, the other 
remaining in Unyoro and penetrating to Karagwe, or that Uganda 
was first conquered, then Unyoro, then Karagwe, and that it is only 
50 or 60 years ago since, owing to revolutions, the three kingdoms 
became distinct. In 1878 Unyoro was divided into three distinct 
provinces, reigned over by three chiefs, each claiming the throne. 
