The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-12-08
BARlERING ON THE CONGO
Produce and Ivory Sold for
11uSkets and Cloth.
Great Aptness for Bargaining Displayed
by the Natives.

An article which appears in All the
Fear Round gives this interesting de-
scription of the primitive methods of
trade which still obtain in the new
Congo Free State. South America:
When a sufficient number of the
men have crowded into the room to fill
the space before the rail, they are ad-
mitted through it by the headmen. and
squat in squads upon the door before
the weighing machine, at which the
trader takes his seat, while his assist
ant stands at the shelves, ready to re-
deem the little chits or ''books," as
they are called, which the senior man
will give for the number Of 'longs''
which he may agree to pay to each
man for his produce. The produce
in little mat bags containing from ten
to thirty-two pounds Gan arroba). and
sometimes but a handkerchief full of
rubber, peanuts or gum copal-he puts
into the scale. If it is satisfactory in
quality it is. bargained for in the
"longs" referred to-so many for so
many pounds of peanuts, rubber or
gum, according to the value of the
produce. On the first bargain made
there depends much, as the most x
perienced and willy old black usually
offers the first bag of produce of each
kind. BY the price he obtains all the
others are guided, and, where there are
more factories than one in a station,
where he goes they all follow.
After the bag of produce is bought
or passed in" as the term is, it is paid
for in the various articles of the trade,
at the discretion chiefly of the trader
that is to say, no native can have his
produce paid for solely in one article
of trade. He cannot have all cloth, or
all muskets, or all powder; but he
must take a selection of articles, the
relative values of which are fixed bv
the 'long," the standard of quantity
and quality. This consists of six yards
OF common cotton cloth, or panno da
costa; less of finer cloth, according to
quality; more of coarser cloth; and 80
ON until every article of the trade, to
muskets and g%unpowder, the most
valuable in it, are disposed Of in rela-
tion to the "long."
AS the bags are rapidly passed in,
the contents are emptied out in heaps
on a clear space of the floor. and then
the ivory men. or "bushmen" as they
are called. knowing they have the more
valuable articles to sell. though small
IN quantity in the present case, come
forward, and one of them musings
the tusk he has, and places it in a
spring balance. 1t is examined for
cracks, and the hollow root probed for
mud or stones, and after the weight is
got at, a "mouth" or offer is made to
the native gentlemen" or brokers of
The "cabucca" Ga v of worry in
three articles of trade-muskets. DOW
der and cloth, so many muskets, SO
many kegs of powder, so many yards
Of cloth, according to the weight of
The "tooth' and the value of ivory.
This is called the "bundle," which is
afterward divided into a great many
articles OF trade, according to fixed
rules between the white traders and
The gentlemen" or %"brokers," and at
each exchange these gentlemen and
the "headmen' of the factory keep
something for themselves from the
''bushmen." The method of buyinp
ivory is distinct from that of buying
any other kind of produce, and is in
t%ricate, and is supposed to be made so
partly in order to puzzle the "bush-
men" as to the real value of the ivory
they have to sell. These "bushmen'
bring it from the very far interior.
whence they have travelled for months,
and are easily bewildered, being, nat.
nrally, not nearly so sharp as the men
OF the coast tribes, who bring in the
lesser kind Of produce, and every man
Of whomis a born haggler.
AS with the other kinds of produce,
what is given for the first lot or
"tooth" offered is the criterion of the
relative value of all. and SO difficult is
it to fix a price. and so long a.. haggl.
takes place, that the gentlemen. are
told more than once to take it away.
But they always come back To the