I 
46 THE KILIMA-NJAR0 EXPEDITION. 
over by the Masai, large coils of iron wire must be 
taken, as these predatory people greatly value it, and 
turn it to many useful ends in their simple manufac¬ 
tures. Natives of all tribes in East Africa are also 
fond of copper and brass wire of every thickness, the 
very large sizes being coiled into bracelets or anklets, 
and the finer sorts used with much ingenuity to orna¬ 
ment gun-stocks, the hafts of knives, or the rods of 
spears. Finally, to this already extensive list of goods 
must be added a few sacks of cowries, barrels of trade 
gunpowder, tin boxes of percussion-caps, looking- 
glasses, large and small, butchers’ knives, bells, mouse¬ 
traps, and cheap musical instruments; while as presents 
for chiefs of special importance, fancy articles have to 
be taken, such as musical-boxes, accordions, guns of 
superior make, playing-cards, fine snuff, and gaudy 
picture-books. I was myself provided with a huge 
roll of coloured plates from the Graphic and other 
illustrated papers, which I found made a most satis¬ 
factory impression on chiefs of an aesthetic turn of mind, 
already cloyed with the cloth, beads, and brass wire 
of the ordinary trader. When all these wares had 
been selected, assorted, and packed, I had further to 
add to our encumbrances by purchases of food for 
myself and the men, as the country through which 
our journey lay was almost uninhabited and devoid of 
cultivation. For myself I added crates of potatoes 
and onions, and a dozen live fowls to my precious 
stock of preserved provisions ; while for the men, large 
quantities of Indian corn and beans were bought. 
How easily fed these Swahili porters are ! What other 
race would be content to trudge twenty miles a day 
with a burden of sixty pounds, and be regaled on 
nothing but maize and beans ? 
