of Edinburgh , Session 1885-86. 
753 
amunition they will buy for the State, and a week or two is generally 
occupied in coming to terms with the trader and in paying the 
stipulated price. The Arabs generally ask about five times the 
amount that they intend finally to accept. They are usually paid 
for the Government goods in^ ivory. As soon as this State business 
is concluded, the king and the principal chiefs make their private 
purchases, and it is only when they are satisfied that the trader is 
allowed to dispose of his remaining stock to all comers. About two 
months are required by the Arabs to dispose of all their goods, and 
the Government always provides them with canoes to transport the 
ivory and slaves they have obtained, from Utebbi, the port near the 
capital Rubaga, to Kagei, at the south end of the lake. The large 
traders in Unyanyembe have agents constantly residing in Uganda, 
who generally collect ivory and slaves to be ready for the arrival of 
the caravans, and otherwise look after their interests. It was these 
agents who had a good deal of influence with Mtesa, and who try 
to make the sojourn of Europeans in Uganda as unpleasant as 
possible, for they fear that their business will be spoilt, especially 
that in slaves, by the introduction of European commerce. 
Formerly a small trade was carried on with the Soudan; coffee, 
tobacco, mbugu, and cattle were exchanged for fezes, calico, and red 
slippers, but the withdrawal of the Egyptians from Mrooli put a 
stop to this traffic. 
Strangers residing in the country were, until quite recently, pro- 
hibited from buying produce ( see Treatment of Strangers). 
Uo fairs are held, but at the capital a very primitive sort of 
market is held daily. 
Money. — Exchangeable Values . — The king and a few of the richest 
chiefs possess Maria Theresa dollars, but they are seldom used as 
money. The standard value of an article may be said to be 
reckoned by a string of 100 cowries or an arm’s length of calico. 
Beads, hoes, salt, and fish are also employed as mediums of 
exchange. 
A fat cow costs about 2500 cowries, or three arms’ lengths of 
cloth, or two needles, or a small box of percussion caps, or 20 charges 
of powder. A young slave boy is worth 100 percussion caps, 4 
needles, or about 4000 cowries, whereas a young slave girl is worth 
about a third more, and a full grown female slave costs about 
VOL. XIII. 3 D 
