132 
THE NEW AFRICA 
meat roasting in quantities on the embers, which heightened the 
growing surfeit we felt at this barbarous spectacle. 
Lured by the prospects of meat, the natives from over the 
river paid us a friendly visit next day; and finding that we 
could obtain bearers amongst them to see us further on our 
journey, we discharged Moheni’s boys, paying them with red 
(amakanda) beads and strips of cloth, which they wear as aprons. 
Here we also got rid of some long, angular green glass beads to 
them, which the natives had heretofore refused to accept as pay¬ 
ment, always demanding red or white opaque beads of two sizes, 
large and small in preference. In fact, we soon foundNo our 
satisfaction that these green glass beads were highly prized 
here by the natives, for although they had never been seen 
in this country before, they, through some fashionable freak 
of the native mind, had been declared beautiful, and therefore 
were in great demand. I mention this episode so that other 
travellers may beware of taking beads of unusual shape or 
colour amongst the natives, as only those that are in trade 
in the district are recognised as currency, and one may offer 
many times the usual number of unknown beads in payment 
in place of recognised ones, and not have them accepted, while 
they will keep on asking for the particular kind of bead they 
are accustomed to. Thus we had to sacrifice for a mere song 
many articles and trinkets, such as brass chain belts, ear¬ 
rings, and various other gew-gaws we had brought from the 
coast with us as novelties likely to fascinate the native mind. 
They did not know the stuff, and would not accept it as currency 
of any particular value—a fact we regretted very much, as it 
was not without considerable trouble we had transported these 
now useless articles thus far; and our supply of the usual 
currency was limited. Some gaudy-looking axes we had also 
brought excited their unutterable contempt, as the edges broke 
in use against the extremely hard kinds of wood growing here, 
and while chopping through the bones of heavy game. They 
brought us their home-made weapons of soft iron, and with many 
exclamations of derision vaunted the superiority of their own 
