How I Found Livingstone Travels, Adventures And Discoveries In Central Africa Including Four Months Residence With Dr. Livingstone By Sir Henry M. Stanley
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"Come," He Will Say,
"Close, Man, Take The Money And Go Thy Way.
Art thou mad?" If the
native hesitates, he will scream in a fury; he pushes him about,
spurns the ivory with contemptuous indifference, - never was such
ado about nothing; but though he tells the astounded native to be
up and going, he never intends the ivory shall leave his shop.
The Banyans exercise, of all other classes, most influence on the
trade of Central Africa. With the exception of a very few rich
Arabs, almost all other traders are subject to the pains and
penalties which usury imposes. A trader desirous to make a
journey into the interior, whether for slaves or ivory, gum-copal,
or orchilla weed, proposes to a Banyan to advance him $5,000, at
50, 60, or 70 per cent. interest. The Banyan is safe enough not
to lose, whether the speculation the trader is engaged upon pays
or not. An experienced trader seldom loses, or if he has been
unfortunate, through no deed of his own, he does not lose credit;
with the help of the Banyan, he is easily set on his feet again.
We will suppose, for the sake of illustrating how trade with the
interior is managed, that the Arab conveys by his caravan $5,000's
worth of goods into the interior. At Unyanyembe the goods are
worth $10,000; at Ujiji, they are worth $15,000: they have
trebled in price. Five doti, or $7.50, will purchase a slave in
the markets of Ujiji that will fetch in Zanzibar $30.
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