The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1885-11-26
BARTERING ON THE CONGO
Produce and Ivory Sold for
Muskets and Cloth.
Great Aptness for Bargaining Displayed
by tho Natives.

hh @eoio Whioh "PPooio III hb Ho
Year Round gives this interesting de-
scriptica 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 floor 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 handkerchief-ful of
rubber, peanuts or gum copal-he puts
into the scale. If il 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 ex-
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 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 selection of articles, the
relative values of which are fixed by
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 so
on until every article of the trade, to
muskets and gunpowder, the most
valuable in it, are disposed of in rela-
ton to the "long."
AS the bags are rapidly passed in,
the contents are emptied out in heaps
on 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 unslings
the tusk he has, and places it in Il
spring balance. 1t is examined for
cracks, and the hollow root probed for
mud or stones, and after the weight is
got at, "mouth" or offer is made to
the native gentlemen" OF brokers of
the "cabucca" { a caravan of ivory in
three articles Of trade-muskets, pow
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 great many
articles CT 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 buying
ivory is distinct from that of buying
ally other kind of produce, and is in
tricate, 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
urally, not nearly so sharp as the men
of the coast tribes, who bring in the
lesser kind of produce, and every man
of whom is 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 price, and so long haggle
takes place, that the gentlemen are
told more than once to take it away.
But they always come back to the
charge, asking another keg Of powder.
or another gun, and coming down TO a
bottle of gin or "long' of cloth, and
then to something for "top' of the
"bundle," which is always expected,
and then the 'dash," or further pres
eht, and top of all, the "matabicho'
(Portugese, "kill-the- worm or drink.
In fact, there is no end to the "squeez-
ing" to which the white man is sub
ject in the trade with these people, and
this not only in ivory but in every
thing Indeed, the trader has to be
very wary to prevent being overreach-
ed, and finding when he makes up his
prices that the cost of the goods he has
paid away. and the freight, and the
charges, have BEEN too much for the
market value in England of the pro
duce lie has bought.
1t is well on to noon before the last
tooth is bought and paid for, and the
crowd of natives, who have been
storming and laughing, chattering and
! rrunh1iprr bx Turns ora tprDnl 49,,