with the Fan Cannibals . 227 
this Spartan currency a bundle of ten represents 
sixpence. “ White man’s Ikfa” would be silver, 
for which the more advanced Mpongwe have cor¬ 
rupted the English to “ solove.” An idea exists 
on the Lower River that our hardware is broken 
up for the purpose of being made into spear-heads 
and other weapons. Such is not generally the 
case. The Wamasai, the Somal and the Cape 
Kafirs—indeed, all the metal-working African bar¬ 
barians-—call our best Sheffield blades “ rotten 
iron.” They despise a material that chips and 
snaps, and they prefer with ample cause their na¬ 
tive produce, charcoal-smelted, and tempered by 
many successive heatings and hammerings, with¬ 
out quenching in water. Nor will they readily part 
with it when worked. . The usual trade medium 
is a metal rod ; two of these are worth a franc if 
of brass, while three of copper represent two 
francs. There is a great demand for beads and 
salt, the latter especially throughout the interior. 
Thus ended my “ first impressions” amongst 
the Fa.22 cannibals. 
