Group items tagged

Zanzibar, the Sultan himself being influenced by t

the

It appears, then, that Frere's promises to the mission were not immediately fulfille

diction. Th

of Zanzibar was technically sovereign in the coastal area, although in practice, even before 1888, some of his subjects did not necessarily accept his auth

e coast. Kirk also wrote to the Society condemning the mission for harbouring fugitives, but he indicated that the blame lay with Binns not Streeter. In the end the mission was forced to release most of the fugitives, leaving only those who had belonged to the

There was less conflict with the missions in the years 1881-2 during which time Price had rejoined the missions as superintendent, replacing Streeter, whose management, especially his method of carrying out discipline, had led the Society to concur with Kirk that he needed to be replaced

t is clear that personal disagreements between missionaries themselves made their task of maintaining a common mission policy on many issues difficult.

So dominant did the Karany and Antalaotra become that foreign firms and local Sakalava chiefs increasingly hired them as their agents. By 1872 the large Hamburg firm of O'Swald was running its commercial operations in western Madagascar through a Nosy Be-based Karany whose involvement in the slave trade was notorious, while, lower down the west coast, all of George Ropes's agents were Karany by 1888. Similarly, Maintirano was ruled in the name of queen Bibiasa of southern Menabe by a Muslim Sakalava called Alidy who, in conjunction with Abd-er-Rhamen, an Antalaotra, dominated the slave trade of the mid-west coast. By the late 1880s an estimated 90 percent of arms and slaves dealers on the west coast were British Indians.31 By 1894, the commercial triumph of the Karany and Antalaotra was virtually complete; not only did they dominate the ports of western Madagascar, they had also captured much of the hinterland trade, it being perceived that "l'interieur des terres est absolument ferm6 aux Europ6ens."32 In addition, even before the 1882-1885 war the Karany had developed strong trading links with the Cape Colony and Natal and there is evidence that, by the late 1880s, they were also involved

in Mainti

ntalaotra for sale in the interior, and supplied the same merchants and creole traders with Merina and Betsileo slaves for export.11 Madagascar was traditionally an exporter of slaves, but a market for imported African slaves developed in the nineteenth century in the Merina empire, which covered approximately one-third of the island. This was due to the adoption of autarkic policies in the mid-1820s which promoted economic expansion based upon exploitation of "unfree" fanompoana and slave labor. The economic prosperity of the 18

oreign traders moved increasingly to independent regions of the island to avoid the higher duties charged in Merina controlled ports.14 In consequence, the Merina court intensified its exploitation of peasant fanompoana labor, which had always formed the basis of the imperial economy. Peasants reacted by fleeing in ever-greater numbers to the expanding areas of the island beyond Merina control, thus exacerbating the manpower shortage. At the same time the Merina elite, which witnessed a rapid

annually, or approximately 35 percent of the total imports. Many of these found their way to the main Merina port of Mahajanga, where Frere noted "the enormous numbers of African negroes everywhere seen."18 Contemporary accounts noted the rise in imports; for instance, in March 1888 alone more than 700 slaves were reported to have been landed on the northwest coast of Madagascar.19 The most important slave entrep6t next to Maintirano was the Tsiribihina delta which, in contrast, was a center for the export of slaves, as was Toliara in the southwest. In 1870 some 2,000 slaves were exported annually from the former, and an estimated 2,373 from the latter by the mid-1880s.2

d-1888 had gained a monopoly of armaments imports in exchange for slave exports along the coast between Ranopas and Maintirano. Some slave traders themselves gained quasiconsular status, like Norden at Toliara, and Govea who traded for some years at Maintirano.25 Such was the importance of these Mascarene middlemen that large foreign firms trading on the west coast of Madagascar regularly used them as agents until the late 1880s. For instance, the Boston merchant Geo. Ropes employed a Henry Smith, who was married to a daughter of Leo

were quickly drawn into the dubious engagE trade.35 As early as 1880 European merchants were trading along the entire coastline between the Capes St. Andrew and Ste. Marie, while Morondava alone boasted the presence of two American, two French, two Indian, two Arab, one British, and one Norwegian trader, all of whom maintained agents in the interior. In addition, two South African houses, one from Natal and

two

measuring from west to east 200 to 500 miles, and from north to south about 700 miles."45 In the early nineteenth century, the slave trade in the interior of Mozambique and in Malawi had been dominated by the Zambesia praze

The inability of Portuguese authorities, whose effective administration petered out 60 miles above the confluence of the Zambesi and Shire, to stem the slave trade from Mozambique increasingly angered the British government, which in 1888 called for an international blockade of the northern Mozambique coast. Portugal agreed on condition that the blockade would be mounted by her navy, but the embargo failed to prevent the clandestine trade in either arms imports or slave exports, while it hit customs revenues badly. Under such conditions the Portuguese could not afford to uphold the embargo and from mid1889 exceptions to it were granted with increasing frequency. About May 1889, for instance, two Portuguese traders cleared 12,000 lbs. of gunpowder and 1,000 guns through Quelimane, ostensibly for game hunters. The resurgence in the supply of arms by legitimate channels gave an added fillip to an already buoyant Mozambique slave trade to Madagascar. So great was the trade and such were the constraints on the slave traffic north of Lindi, that in 1889 it

1895 Africa is the coast of German East Africa, from Mikindani up to Tanga."54 Certainly in September that year the British consul in Zanzibar was informed by the governor general of German East Africa that large slave caravans converged regularly on the coast south of the Rufiji River, notably at Kilwa and Lindi, from where the slaves were shipped in "French" vessels to Madagascar and the Comoros.55 The two which crossed Portuguese East Africa terminated in the region of Ibo and Quelimane

mid-century as the activity of British anti-slave trade patrols in East Africa waters obliged slavers to deconcentrate the trade. As a result, a multitude of small slave ports developed

Slave traders again proved versatile in their tactics in the late 1880s, when as a result of increased British pressu

ns, ammunition, and gunpowder constituted the prominent articles of exchange, although beads, hoes, and iron bars were sometimes used.63 Profits on the trans-Mozambique Channel run were as high as 1,000 percent, inducing many of the dhows that had formerly specialized in coasting to turn to the slave trade, making multiple crossings in the same season.64 This was a reflection of growing demand. In Ime

1882-188

widely adopted by Antalaotra merchants. This was followed in 1890 by the formal British recognition of a French protectorate in Madagascar. Consequently, the British relinquished their right to search vessels in Malagasy waters. Indeed, when H.M.S. Redbreast stopped and searched a dhow carrying French colors off Madagascar, French authorities successfully claimed an indemnity from the British governme

aintained there the institution of slavery in defiance of the British treaty of 1883, which had proclaimed that slaves would be liberated by August 1889. As French demand fo

spite high slave mortality during transit, the numbers involved in the trans-Mozambique Channel trade grew considerably during the course of the nineteenth century. Although demand in hinterland East Africa for domestic and agricultural labor absorbed as much as two-thirds of the supply from the interior, the total number of slaves brought to the coast from the Malawi region was estimated in the early 1880s to be well in excess of 20,000 per annum; caravans heading for the coast with between 500 and

850s, Mozambique slave exports were sustained predominantly by demand from the French plantation islands, and from Madagascar. One estimate states that some 50,000 engages w

r in the early 1870s, rising to 17,000 by the end of the decade.84 By the 1880s, the main slave traffic from Kilwa and ports to the south was directed to Madagascar, which was absorbing an estimated 66 to 75 percent of all slaves shipped from East Africa to the islands of the Western Indian Ocean.85 Increased demand for labor in Imerina from the Franco-Merina War of 1882-1885 stimulated slave exports from East Africa. Given a lessening in British naval supervision in the region, it is probable that between 18,000 and 23,000 slaves per annum were imported into Madagascar from 1885, representing a market value at west coast prices of possibly $600,000 per annum. A significant number of slave imports were subsequently shipped to the Fre

Period Mozambique Swahili Coast East Africa 1861-70 18,691+ 70,000 1871-80 8,000+ 20,000+ 1881-90 20,000 10,000 [?]

1889 and 1894 respectively.89 Second, it did much to restrict the slave export trade at source in much the same way as the European advance into the hinterland of Zanzibar a decade previously had constricted the northern slave trade network, although Arab slavers put up a fierce resistance in Malawi, where the last big battle between British agents and Arab slavers occurred in 1899.90 The market for East African

tracts. Fresh inputs of contract labour followed a period of great growth in the sugar industry in the 1850s, and by 1907 almost half a million I

a to North African ports in order to be shipped to the Ottoman empire and to the East. Slaves and ivory were also brought from the interior to the east coast, where the Arabs bought them and transported them to Arabia and Persia in dhows.

Slaves and ivory were also brought from the interior to the east coast, where the Arabs bought them and transported them to Arabia and Persia in dhows.

Slaves and ivory were also brought from the interior to the east coast, where the Arabs bought them and transported them to Arabia and Persia in dhows.

Slaves and ivory were also brought from the interior to the east coast, where the Arabs bought them and transported them to Arabia and Persia in dhows.

. Slaves and ivory were also brought from the interior to the east coast, where the Arabs bought them and transported them to Arabia and Persia in dhows. The passage between Zanzibar and southern Arabia usually took between 30 and 35 days

ought them and transported them to Arabia and Persia in dhows. The passage between Zanzibar and southern Arabia usually took between 30 and 35 day

, it sets the cattle import trade in the context of commercial relations in general between Natal and Madagascar in the period 1875-1

The aim and object in life [for Africans] seems to be to accumulate cattle, rather than to accumulate money in the form of gold and silver; but in the ultimate analysis we see that cattle .. . takes the place of the banks

ir commercial impact has passed largely unremarked by historians, yet diseases were directly responsible in Natal for a marked stagnation in the cattle stock which, after increasing 24 percent between 1885 and 1889, fell by 8 percent in the following two yea

Cattle were also the primary, if not exclusive, form of capital accumulation for most Africans. Cattle diseases thus not only deprived African farmers of draft oxen to plow fields, supply manure, and transport goods, but also depleted their capital resources. -Kingon commented of the impact of East

involvement by South African cattle merchants in the Malagasy slave trade.

One prevalent cattle disease in the late nineteenth century was Redwater (Babesiosis) which first appeared in Natal in 1870-1871, having been introduced by infected cattle fro

By 1890 it affected all regions of South Africa, although in the highlands of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal the

.7 -Cattle mortality from Redwater was initially high, notable among imported European and Cape cattle, although it would appear that local stock developed a resistance to the disease following its most virulent phase in the summer of 1874

During the 1870s Redwater was joined by "Quarter-evil" or "Sponsick," an allied disease that attacked mainly young cattle of between one and three years of ag

entury.9 Another cattle disease prevalent in late nineteenth century South Africa was Lungsickness or bovine pleuropneumonia. Colenbrander claims that it was introduced in the 1850s

traders of disposing of their cattle in small numbers to Africans as they travelled.10 Anthrax and nagana were also present in th

s.11 In 1889 however, high cattle losses were caused by an outbreak of Fluke disease, known locally as "Slack" and elsewhere variously as Liver Rot, Coathe, Bane, and Sheep

s of Lungsickness and to a persistent drought. The latter had led to the failure of crops in 1888, depleting winter forage and therefore lowering cattle resistance to parasites

oxen in 1902 and 1903 - despite interruptions caused by the French imposition of a quarantine on all ships from Natal following the false rumor of an outbreak of plague at Durban. The influx of Madagascar cattle helped sustain the rapid rise in imports into Natal: in 1901 Africa, excluding South Africa, accounted for over one percent of Natal's total imports for the first time in fourteen years.35 East Coast Fever had the same general impact upon the South African economy as rinderpest, similarly generating a large demand for cattle imports.36 However, whereas Madagascar's geographical isolation saved it from rinderpest, the same was not true of East Coast fever. As Koch noted in his 1903 report : In Beira I was informed some time ago cattle were frequently brought there from German East Africa and Madagascar, and that the latter animals, especially ... from the South of the Island, soon became sick and died, while the cattle from the East African Coast and the Northern districts of Madagascar remained healthy.37 As soon as his findings became public, demand in South Africa for Malagasy cattle fell sharply, their value dropped, and imports plummeted. It would appear that following the spread of East Coast Fever, many cattle imported from Madagascar were ordered to be slaughte

ath of stock - in the 1890 drought 100,000 cattle died in the Transkei alone - and the spread of malnutrition and disease.14 Severe droughts created particularly favorable conditions for th

Southern Africa. The 1896 locust plague was also a major contributing factor in the rebellion that year in Bechuanaland, which had been particularly badly affected, as the main locust breeding ground was located on the edge of the Kalahari.15

The cattle stock of South Africa was thus considerable enfeebled by 1896 when it was hit by

maliland in 1889. Rinderpest subsequently spread rapidly south, reaching Uganda in 1890 and Zambia (Northern Rhodesia) by late 1892. The river Zambesi was the most effective barrier to its progress south, for the disease did not reach Zimbabwe (Southern

Consequently owners were frequently compelled to sell their cattle at ridiculous prises, rather than to keep them, and run

Accentuated by the effects of the 1897 drought, the rinderpest epidemic of 1896-1897 wrought havoc with the cattle stock of South Africa. In Mafeking 95 percent and in the Transkei an estimated 90 percent of cattle were killed by rinderpest. Overall it has been estimated that rinderpest caused an 85 percent mortality among unprotected cattle. Even in areas where inoculation was adopted, as in most of Cape Colony, 35 percent of cattle perished. Due to a variety of factors, African losses were much higher than those sustain

uth Africa occurred at Komatipoort and Nelspruit in M

00 - the first recorded cases in South Africa occurred at Komatipoort and Nelspruit in May 1902. Its progress south was slower than rinderpest ,but by 1904 it affected most of the Transvaal from where it spread to Natal. In 1910 it crossed into the Transkei and within a few years all of South Africa was affected. The similarity of East Coast Fever to Redwater initially led to it being termed "Rhodesian Redwater," an indication of its supposed origins. As with rinderpest, specialists found the disease difficult to contend with and theories on preventative measures and treatme

19 Thousands

nfected imported cattle to the non-immune stock of the interior and to foreign cattle imports.21 In 1903 an inoculation program was started in Zimbabwe, while the following year the government of Natal voted ?2,000 to assist its farmers in the erection of cattle dipping tanks. Nevertheless by 1905 East Coast Fever had spread throughout all the lowveld districts of South Africa, and incidences of the disease were reported on the highveld at Marico, Germiston, and Boksburg. Although it appeared to vanish quickly, outbreaks reoccurred in 1906 in the Natal districts of Paulpietersburg, Ngotshe, Vryheid, Nongoma, and Mahlabatini. The disruption caused by the Zululand rebellion of that year - a revolt in which cattle losses might well have been a formative cause further facilitated the spread of the disease; by March 1910 it had reached Eastern Griqualand via the Umzimkulu district, and by 1912 had spread through the Transkei (where of 158,884 cattle inoculated against the disease by 1914 only onethird survived) to affect the

The persistence in Natal of disease and natural blights ensured a chronic dearth of cattle and, as the latter constituted such an important element in the local economy, especially in agriculture and transport, imports were encouraged to build up depleted stock, notably in the periods 1875-1882,

s.27 Despite regular veterinary inspections which slowed the process of importation, the profits to be gleaned tempted seven Natal firms to engage in the trade in the perio

Between 1883 and 1897 very few cattle were imported into Natal, Malagasy oxen only being imported in any number during the years 1890/91-1891/92 (a total of 175) when it is possible that only one Natal merchant, Beningfield & Son, was involved. Imports of

the price o

Bay, at the strikingly low price of ?1.6 a head.32 Likewise, Natal merchants looked to Madagascar to replenish their stocks. Oxen from Madagascar proved consistently cheaper than those imported from other sources, the sole exception being in 1902 when 673 oxen were imported from Britain at under ?2.00 a head. It was therefore to Madagascar, despite the history of cattle infections there, that Natal merchants turned. Moreover, the demand came from white and black farmers alike. Although the fortunes of African farmers were sharply reduced by cattle losses, forcing considerable numbers of African males to seek wage

Accentuated by the effects of the 1897 drought, the rinderpest epidemic of 1896-189

t of Natal's total imports for the first time in fourteen years.35 East Coast Fever had the same general impact upon the South African economy as rinderpest, similarly generating a large demand for cattle imports.36 However, whereas Madagascar's geographical isolation saved it from rinderpest, the same was not true of East Coast fever. As Koch noted in his 1903 report : In Beira I was informed some time ago cattle were frequently brought there from German

In contrast to imports into Natal from Africa (excluding South African territories), Madagascar was a marginal consumer of Natal's exports to Africa - of which it generally accounted for less than 10 percent except in the decade 18781888, when it fell below 10 percent in 1884 and 1886-1887 due largely to the economic effects of the Franco-Merina War of 1882-1885.42 Madagascar's greatest share of Natal's exports was in 1878 (35 percent) and 1881-1883 (25, 22, and 29 percent respectively). Conditions in Natal also affected the region's export performance, particularly during the South African War of 1889-1902 when, in marked contrast to its imports from Africa (which rose appreciably), its exports to Africa declined. Indeed, conditions of trade for the entire period 1898-1904 were considered abnormal, the customs collector in 19

ered an average 20 percent loss in cattle en route compared to an average of ten days' sail from the southwest to Durban and a 9 percent cattle mortality en route.45 Second, by sailing to independent reaches of Madagascar, Natal merchants avoided middlemen costs imposed by the Merina. Taxes raised by local chiefs in the southwest of Madagascar varied in amount and value but, as Stanwood, the US consular agent in Morondava, noted in 1880, "Duties in Sakalava ports are paid per ship a fixed amount in and out, no two ports are alike in this respect, Tullia [Toliara] being the highest and Maintirano the lowest, but none come up to the 10 of the Hovas [ie. Merina]."46

gascar. Rum constituted the greater part of such imports until the French takeover

ottons, the staple export from Natal to Madagascar in the 1877-1894 period, were not only consumed as clothing, but also constituted the main commodity currency outside the main Merina-controlled commercial centers.47 The Malagasy market was of considerable importance to Natal, consuming never less than 23 percent of its cotton exports between 1887 and 1889, with a high point of over 60 percent from 1885 to 1888. This was particularly marked in plain and in printed and dyed piece goods; Madagascar accounted for over 75 percent of Natal's exports of plain cotton exports in 1878, 1883, and 1885-1888, and of its printed and dyed piece goods in 1882 and 1885-1889. All cotton pieces were re-exports from Britain or India. Ready-made clothing was also a considerable export to the island, almost rivaling cotton

nd 1879 (to 16 and 19 percent respectively). Another significant export from Natal to Madagascar was arms, notably muskets and rifles, bullets/balls and gunpowder. In 1878 for instance, McCubbin, the largest importer of Malagasy oxen into Natal, sought a gunpowder export license from the Natal government for his Madagascar trade. The request was refused but export licenses for arms were granted during the 1880s Franco-Merina conflict. For example, in 1882 A.C. Sears, captain of the American bark the Sic

,

Cottons and arms imported into west Madagascar played a significant role in the Malagasy slave trade. First, arms were used by Malagasy slavers to procure slaves in the interior of the island. Second, arms and cottons formed the chief means of payment for slaves. For instance, 81 percent of the price paid for slaves in Toliara in the mid-1880s comprised gunpowder and arms, and approximately ?9,995 in arms and ?1,419 in cotton piece goods was imported annually into St. Augustin Bay to pay for slave exports.50 It is probable that the majority of the cottons and some of the arms were supplied from Natal, and the Natal merchants became involved in the slave trade. Madagascar played

slave trade. Maintirano was the focal point for this trade, possibly 30 percent of all slave imports into Madagascar, and a good percentage of slave exports from the island, passing through the

oned on Nosy Ve, which in 1887 was described as "nothing but a slaving station" serving R6union.54 Thus most of the Natal merchant houses involved in importing Malagasy oxen were involved directly or indirectly in the Malagasy slave trade. In this context it is highly interesting to note that both Beningfield and Snell were heavily involved in shipping workers and goods between Natal and Delagoa Bay and Inhambane, and were therefore quite possibly directly involved in the trans-Mozambique Channel slave traffic.55 However, the opportunity cost of establishing direct contact with the supplier could prove great, for the absence of an established group of commercial intermediaries created an unstable context for trade. After negotiating a passage through the reef that characterized the southwest coast, foreign traders contact

The operation of the abolition ordinance was stagnant and erratic until the late 1920s, when pressure from foreign anti-slavery societies led to revisions, making it more viable as an instrument of legal status abolition. First, there was the Slave-dealing Abolition Ordinance of 1928 that strengthened the previous Ordinance. 27 Second, the 'Reafflrmation of the Abolition of Slavery Ordinance, 1930' clearly stated that 'slavery in any form whatsoever was unlawful and that the legal status of slavery did not exist

In the Gold Coast, there was a shortage of colonial officials with professional legal training and experience throughout the colonial period. 43 As the political structures of the colonial state developed, the onus of implementing the abolition ordinance devolved on the DCs. The DCs court was solely responsible for adjudicating cases of slavery from the late 1870s. 44 It

During the first decade of the twentieth century, the number of European and African administrators increased, and the work of the DCs became purely administrative, devoid of the legal work that had encumbered it in the past. By 1905, there were Detective Branches at Accra, Cape Coast, and Sekondi, all coastal towns. Accra had the highest number of detectives with the most superior ranks. This is perhaps reflected on the statistics for crime for 1905, which recorded four slave-dealing cases in Accra and one at Cape Coast." Reinforced by additional personnel, provincial courts began to assume responsibility for administering the abolition ordinance. However, this did not bring any marked change in their administration

hus British resources were stretched to the limit in the Gold Coast. Shortage of colonial officials limited the geographical extent of British administration and led to a policy of conciliation towards the Protectorate states, thereby facilitating slavery there. 56 It was also the chief reason that enforcement of abolition laws was confined to the Colony until the early decades of the twentieth century. 57 Until the 1880s, the colonial government tacitly supported the Basel Mission in its struggle to emancipate slaves and pawns in Akyem Abuakwa. 58 Colonial policy was to 'maintain political peace in the country at any price'. 59 There was a similar British policy in the Praso and Voltaic regions. 60 This made it possible for slave-dealers to continue to bring slaves into the Gold Coast from the interior ports of trade well into the early twentieth century." Allowing slavery to thrive in the Protectorate permitted it to survive in the Colony.

One major gap in the historiography is how Africans responded to the ordinance and its impact on the effectiveness of the abolition. Indeed, Africans responded ingeniously to the operation of the abolition ordinance. Slave-holders and dealers adopted innovative measures to counter the abolition ordinance, hence making it difficult for colonial officials to detect enslaved persons. 98 Most cases of enslavement were brought to the attention of colonial officials through African informers or by the slaves themselv

Communal religious practices and sanctions also served the interests of slave dealers and holders. 107 Slaves were made to swear oaths and 'drink fetish', ritually binding them to stay and refrain from reporting their servile status to colonial officials. For example, in 1875 a holder took a freed slave to 'King Tackie for the purpose of administering fetish oath so as to declare that she will no longer go back to the government'. 108 This bound the slave to the holder, as slaves feared that a breach of the oath or the 'fetish' would be catastrophic. Again, how prevalent this was is difficult to gauge. However, the 'fetish' and oathing sanctions have been powerful agencies of social and political control throughout Ghanaian history.

But it was in the nineteenth century that the great development of the East African ivory trade took place. An increased demand for ivory in America and Europe coincided with the opening up of East Africa by Arab traders and European explorers, and this led to the intensive exploitation of the ivory resources of the interior. Throughout the nineteenth century, East Africa ranked as the foremost source of ivory in the world; ivory over-topped all rivals, even slaves, in export value, and it

ivory is white, opaque, and smooth, it is gently curved, and easily worked, and has what might be called 'spring'. Hard ivory, on the other hand, is translucent, glossy and of a heavier specific gravity than soft ivory; it is more subject to extremes of temperature and more difficult to carve.

The value of ivory was calculated in different ways. The African estimated its value by its size and quality. The Arab carried his steel-yard scales which were simple and practical, and, all things being equal, he purchased ivory by weight, the unit being the frasilah (34-3

ure translates to 6,250 lb of ivory per month, representing the slaughter of over 160 elephants per month for the sake of the trad

nence than the

carving. It was in keen demand in the Orient because of its superior quality and because it was less expensive than that from south-e

East African ivory is soft ivory and is ideal f

ivory was obtained in sufficient quantity from the coast to meet deman

risk of native wars and the best seasons for travel were all available to the enterprising trade

ut, writing in the i84os, the missionary Krapf observed that, although the elephant was still found in some areas near the coast, ivory caravans were now making regular trips into Usagara, Masailand and the Kikuyu countries

so large that it required three stalwart Akamba tribesmen to carry it. The ivory trade was lucrative, and the Masai, despite their vaunted aloofness, were eager to share in it, and strove to drive the Waboni tribe from the southern bank of the Sabaki River, so that they could gain access to the port of Malindi with their ivory

As the century went on, caravans travelling

bigger and bigger, until by 1885 it was not u

porters in a single caravan. The ivory caravans

own, and the supply of their needs led to a sy

that of ship chandlering. Information as to t

he ivory trader had to know his ivory, which varies from hard to soft. On the whole, the ivory of East Africa is of the soft variety. The dividing line between soft and hard is the Congo border; west of this line it is hard, to the east it is soft, although there are variations within each region. Buyers maintained that soft ivory came from areas where water was scarce; for example coastal ivory from near Pangani and Mombasa was never as good as that from the dry, upland regions of the interior. Soft ivory is white, opaque, and smooth, it is gently curved, and easily worked, and has what might be called 'spring'. Hard ivory, on the other hand, is translucent, glossy and of a heavier specific gravity than soft ivory; it is more subject to extremes of temperature and more difficult to carve.

armlets

being softer and malleable, were highly prize

It was difficult to find a perfect match of tusks. These are seldo

for 'just as a man uses his right hand in preference to his lef

elephant works with a particular