62 
EAST AFRICA AND ITS BIG GAME. 
summit of which a good view of Jovia, our next halting 
place in the valley below, was obtained. The scenery 
was lovely, greatly resembling the Highlands in Scot¬ 
land, only more wild. The valley in which the village 
lies is partially cultivated and in some parts densely 
wooded ; it runs north right up to the mountains for 
several miles, and the whole neighbourhood is densely 
populated. The people live chiefly in the mountains, 
and come down in the day time to cultivate the valley, 
which is well watered by a narrow river, the Jovia, 
flowing due south. Crossing this we encamped on the 
right bank, and after the tents were pitched began the 
tedious operation of bargaining for food, which had to 
be purchased with cloth. The mode of procedure was 
this : each lot of Indian corn was brought into a tent 
and spread out for inspection: then Caceche and 
the natives squatted down and began to haggle over 
the price to be paid for it, and when this was satis¬ 
factorily arranged, a man kept for the purpose, on 
account of the enormous size of his forearm, was 
brought forward and proceeded to measure off the 
lengths of cloth, [Swahili mcono ), which were to re¬ 
present payment for the amount of corn purchased. 
This haggling continued for the remainder of the even¬ 
ing, and even then we had not bought sufficient corn, 
so the only thing to do was to continue the performance 
on the following day. Our purchases also included 
honey with a curious aromatic flavour, moderate butter, 
sweet potatoes, and sugar cane, in addition to Indian 
corn ground and green, which, when fried in butter, is 
