As They Themselves
Always Afterward Expressed It, They Had Labored Every Day
From Sunrise To Sunset For A Moon And A Half, Unloading,
As Quickly As They Could, "Stones That Burn", And Were Tired Out,
Still Leaving Plenty In Her.
With the money so obtained they purchased
clothing, beads, and other articles to take back to their own country.
Their ideas of the value of different kinds of goods rather astonished
those who had dealt only with natives on the coast.
Hearing it stated
with confidence that the Africans preferred the thinnest fabrics,
provided they had gaudy colors and a large extent of surface,
the idea was so new to my experience in the interior that I dissented,
and, in order to show the superior good sense of the Makololo,
took them to the shop of Mr. Schut. When he showed them
the amount of general goods which they might procure at Loanda
for a single tusk, I requested them, without assigning any reason,
to point out the fabrics they prized most. They all at once selected
the strongest pieces of English calico and other cloths,
showing that they had regard to strength without reference to color.
I believe that most of the Bechuana nation would have done the same.
But I was assured that the people near the coast, with whom the Portuguese
have to deal, have not so much regard to durability. This probably arises
from calico being the chief circulating medium; quantity being then
of more importance than quality.
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