Chap. XIX. 
SALE OF lYOEY. 
373 
such a heavy crop as an old garden, and, judging from the size of 
the maize and manioc in the latter, I can readily believe the 
statement. Cattle do well, too. Yiewing the valley as a whole, 
it may be said that its agricultural and pastoral riches are lying 
waste. Both the Portuguese and their descendants turn then- 
attention almost exclusively to trade in wax and ivory, and though 
the country would yield any amount of corn and dairy produce, 
the native Portuguese live chiefly on manioc, and the Europeans 
purchase then- flour, bread, butter, and cheese from the Americans. 
As the traders of Cassange were the flrst white men we had 
come to, we sold the tusks belonging to Sekeletu, wliich had been 
brought to test the difference of prices in the Makololo and white 
men’s country. The result was highly satisfactory to my com¬ 
panions, as the Portuguese give much larger prices for ivory than 
traders from the Cape can possibly give, who labour under the 
disadvantage of considerable overland expenses and ruinous re¬ 
strictions. Two muskets, three small barrels of gunpowder, and 
English calico and baize sufficient to clothe my whole party, with 
large bunches of beads, all for one tusk, were quite delightful for 
those who had been accustomed to give two tusks for one gun. 
With another tusk we procured calico, wliich here is the chief 
currency, to pay our way down to the coast. The remaining two 
were sold for money to purchase a horse for Sekeletu at Loanda. 
The superiority of this new market was quite astounding to the 
Makololo, and they began to abuse the traders by whom they 
had, wliile in their own country, been visited, and, as they now 
declared, “ cheated.” They had no idea of the value of time and 
carriage, and it was somewhat difficult for me to convince them, 
that the reason of the difference of prices lay entirely in what 
they themselves had done in coming here, and that, if the Portu¬ 
guese should carry goods to their country, they would by no 
means be so liberal in their prices. They imagined that, if the 
Cassange traders came to Linyanti, they would continue to vend 
their goods at Cassange prices. I believe I gave them at last a 
clear idea of the manner m which prices were regulated by the 
expences incurred ; and when we went to Loanda, and saw goods 
dehvered at a still cheaper rate, they concluded that it would be 
better for them to come to that city, than to turn homewards at 
Cassange, 
