Part 33

The copal-tree is called by the Arabs shajar el sandarús, from the Hindostani chhandarus; by the Wasawahili msandarusi; and by the Wazaramo and other maritime races mnángú. The tree still lingers on the island and the mainland of Zanzibar. It was observed at Mombasah, Saadani, Muhonyera, and Mzegera of Uzaramo; and was heard of at Bagamoyo, Mbuamaji, and Kilwa. It is by no means, as some have supposed, a shrubby thorn; its towering bole has formed canoes 60 feet long, and a single tree has sufficed for the kelson of a brig. The average size, however, is about half that height, with from 3 to 6 feet girth near the ground; the bark is smooth, the lower branches are often within reach of a man’s hand, and the tree frequently emerges from a natural ring-fence of dense vegetation. The trunk is of a yellow-whitish tinge, rendering the tree conspicuous amid the dark African jungle-growths; it is dotted with exudations of raw gum, which is found scattered in bits about the base; and it is infested by ants, especially by a long ginger-coloured and semi-transparent variety, called by the people maji-m’oto, or “boiling water,” from its fiery bite. The copal wood is yellow tinted, and the saw collects from it large flakes; when dried and polished it darkens to a honey-brown, and, being well veined, it is used for the panels of doors. The small and pliable branches, freshly cut, form favourite “bakur,” the kurbaj or bastinadoing instrument of these regions; after long keeping they become brittle. The modern habitat of the tree is the alluvial sea-plain and the anciently raised beach: though extending over the crest of the latter formation, it ceases to be found at any distance beyond the landward counterslope, and it is unknown in the interior.

The gum copal is called by the Arabs and Hindus sandarus, by the Wasawahili sandarusi, and by the Wanyamwezi--who employ it like the people of Mexico and Yucatan as incense in incantations and medicinings--sirokko and mámnángu. This semi-fossil is not “washed out by streams and torrents,” but “crowed” or dug up by the coast clans and the barbarians of the maritime region. In places it is found when sinking piles for huts, and at times it is picked up in spots overflowed by the high tides. The East African seaboard, from Ras Gomani in S. lat. 3° to Ras Delgado in 10° 41′, with a medium depth of 30 miles, may indeed be called the “copal coast;” every part supplies more or less the gum of commerce. Even a section of this line, from the mouth of the Pangani River to Ngao (Monghou), would, if properly exploited, suffice to supply all our present wants.

The Arabs and Africans divide the gum into two different kinds. The raw copal (copal vert of the French market) is called sandarusi za miti, “tree copal,” or chakází, corrupted by the Zanzibar merchant to “jackass” copal. This chakazi is either picked from the tree or is found, as in the island of Zanzibar, shallowly imbedded in the loose soil, where it has not remained long enough to attain the phase of bitumenisation. To the eye it is smoky or clouded inside, it feels soft, it becomes like putty when exposed to the action of alcohol, and it viscidises in the solution used for washing the true copal. Little valued in European technology, it is exported to Bombay, where it is converted into an inferior varnish for carriages and palanquins, and to China, where the people have discovered, it is said, for utilising it, a process which, like the manufacture of rice paper and of Indian ink, they keep secret. The price of chakazi varies from 4 to 9 dollars per frasilah.

The true or ripe copal, properly called sandarusi, is the produce of vast extinct forests, overthrown in former ages either by some violent

## action of the elements, or exuded from the roots of the tree by an

abnormal action which exhausted and destroyed it. The gum, buried at depths beyond atmospheric influence, has, like amber and similar gum-resins, been bitumenised in all its purity, the volatile principles being fixed by moisture and by the exclusion of external air. That it is the produce of a tree is proved by the discovery of pieces of gum embedded in a touchwood which crumbles under the fingers; the “goose-skin,” which is the impress of sand or gravel, shows that it was buried in a soft state; and the bees, flies, gnats, and other insects which are sometimes found in it delicately preserved, seem to disprove a remote geologic antiquity. At the end of the rains it is usually carried ungarbled to Zanzibar. When garbled upon the coast it acquires an additional value of 1 dollar per frasilah. The Banyan embarks it on board his own boat, or pays a freight varying from 2 to 4 annas, and the ushur or government tax is 6 annas per frasilah with half an anna for charity. About 8 annas per frasilah are deducted for “tare and tret.” At Zanzibar, after being sifted and freed from heterogeneous matter, it is sent by the Banyan retailer to the Indian market or sold to the foreign merchant. It is then washed in solutions of various strengths: the lye is supposed to be composed of soda and other agents for softening the water; its proportions, however, are kept a profound secret. European technologists have, it is said, vainly proposed theoretical methods for the delicate part of the operation which is to clear the goose-skin of dirt. The Americans exported the gum uncleaned, because the operation is better performed at Salem. Of late years they have begun to prepare it at Zanzibar, like the Hamburg traders. When taken from the solution, in which from 20 to 37 per cent. is lost, the gum is washed, sun-dried for some hours, and cleaned with a hard brush, which must not, however, injure the goose skin; the dark “eyes,” where the dirt has sunk deep, are also picked out with an iron tool. It is then carefully garbled with due regard to colour and size. There are many tints and peculiarities known only to those whose interests compel them to study and to observe copal, which, like cotton and Cashmere shawls, requires years of experience. As a rule, the clear and semi-transparent are the best; then follow the numerous and almost imperceptible varieties of dull white, lemon colour, amber yellow, rhubarb yellow, bright red, and dull red. Some specimens of this vegetable fossil appear by their dirty and blackened hue to have been subjected to the influence of fire; others again are remarkable for a tender grass-green colour. According to some authorities, the gum, when long kept, has been observed to change its tinge. The sizes are fine, medium, and large, with many subdivisions; the pieces vary from the dimensions of small pebbles to 2 or 3 ounces; they have been known to weigh 5 lbs., and, it is said, at Salem a piece of 35 lbs. is shown. Lastly, the gum is thrown broadcast into boxes and exported from the island. The Hamburg merchants keep European coopers, who put together the cases whose material is sent out to them. It is almost impossible to average the export of copal from Zanzibar. According to the late Lieutenant-Colonel Hamerton, it varies from 800,000 to 1,200,000 lbs. per annum, of which Hamburg absorbs 150,000 lbs., and Bombay two lacs’ worth. The refuse copal used formerly to reach India as “packing,” being deemed of no value in commerce; of late years the scarcity of the supply has rendered merchants more careful. The price, also, is subject to incessant fluctuations, and during the last few years it has increased from 4 dol. 50 cents to a maximum of 12 dollars per frasilah.

According to the Arabs, the redder the soil the better is the copal. The superficies of the copal country is generally a thin coat of white sand, covering a dark and fertilising humus, the vestiges of decayed vegetation, which varies from a few inches to a foot and a half in depth. In the island of Zanzibar, which produces only the chakazi or raw copal, the subsoil is a stiff blue clay, the raised sea-beach, and the ancient habitat of the coco. It becomes greasy and adhesive, clogging the hoe in its lower bed; where it is dotted with blood-coloured fragments of ochreish earth, proving the presence of oxidising and chalybeate efficients, and with a fibrous light-red matter, apparently decayed coco-roots. At a depth of from 2 to 3 feet water oozes from the greasy walls of the pit. When digging through these formations, the gum copal occurs in the vegetable soil overlying the clayey subsoil.

A visit to the little port of Saadani afforded different results. After crossing 3 miles of alluvial and maritime plain, covered with a rank vegetation of spear grass and low thorns, with occasional mimosas and tall hyphænas, which have supplanted the coco, the traveller finds a few scattered specimens of the living tree and pits dotting the ground. The diggers, however, generally advance another mile to a distinctly formed sea-beach, marked with lateral bands of quartzose and water-rolled pebbles, and swelling gradually to 150 feet from the alluvial plain. The thin but rich vegetable covering supports a luxuriant thicket, the subsoil is red and sandy, and the colour darkens as the excavation deepens. After 3 feet, fibrous matter appears, and below this copal, dusty and comminuted, is blended with the red ochreish earth. The guides assert that they have never hit upon the subsoil of blue clay, but they never dig lower than a man’s waist, and the pits are seldom more than 2 feet in depth. Though the soil is red, the copal of Saadani is not highly prized, being of a dull white colour; it is usually designated as “chakazi.”

On the line inland from Bagamoyo and Kaole the copal-tree was observed at rare intervals in the forests, and the pits extended as far as Muhonyera, about 40 miles in direct distance from the coast. The produce of this country, though not first-rate, is considered far superior to that about Saadani.

Good copal is dug in the vicinity of Mbuamaji, and the diggings are said to extend to 6 marches inland. The Wadenkereko, a wild tribe, mixed with and stretching southwards of the Wazaramo, at a distance of two days’ journey from the sea, supply a mixed quality, more often white than red. The best gums are procured from Hunda and its adjacent districts. Frequent feuds with the citizens deter the wild people from venturing out of their jungles, and thus the Banyans of Mbuamaji find two small dows sufficient for the carriage of their stores. At that port the price of copal varies from 2 dol. 50 cents to 3 dol. per frasilah.

The banks of the Rufiji River, especially the northern district of Wánde, supply the finest and best of copal; it is dug by the Wawande tribe, who either carry it to Kikunya and other ports, or sell it to travelling hucksters. The price in loco is from 1 dol. 50 cents to 2 dollars per frasilah; on the coast it rises to 3 dol. 50 cents. At all these places the tariff varies with the Bombay market, and in 1858 little was exported owing to the enlistment of “free labourers.”

In the vicinity of Kilwa, for four marches inland, copal is dug up by the Mandandu and other tribes; owing to the facility of carriage and the comparative safety of the country it is somewhat dearer than that purchased on the banks of the Rufiji. The copal of Ngao (Monghou) and the Lindi creek is much cheaper than at Kilwa; the produce, however, is variable in quality, being mostly a dull white chakazi.

Like that of East African produce generally, the exploitation of copal is careless and desultory. The diggers are of the lowest classes, and hands are much wanted. Near the seaboard it is worked by the fringe of Moslem negroids called the Wamrima or Coast clans; each gang has its own mtu mku or akida’ao (mucaddum--headman), who, by distributing the stock, contrives to gain more and to labour less than the others. In the interior it is exploited by the Washenzi or heathen, who work independently of one another. When there is no blood-feud they carry it down to the coast, otherwise they must await the visits of petty retail dealers from the ports, who enter the country with ventures of 10 or 12 dollars, and barter for it cloth, beads, and wire. The kosi--south-west or rainy monsoon--is the only period of work; the kaskazi, or dry season, is a dead time. The hardness of the ground is too much for the energies of the people: moreover, “kaskazi copal” gives trouble in washing on account of the sand adhering to its surface, and the flakes are liable to break. As a rule, the apathetic Moslem and the futile heathen will not work whilst a pound of grain remains in their huts. The more civilised use a little jembe or hoe, an implement about as efficient as the wooden spade with which an English child makes dirt-pies.

The people of the interior “crow” a hole about six inches in diameter with a pointed stick, and scrape out the loosened earth with the hand as far as the arm will reach. They desert the digging before it is exhausted; and although the labourers could each, it is calculated, easily collect from ten to twelve lbs. per diem, they prefer sleeping through the hours of heat, and content themselves with as many ounces. Whenever upon the coast there is a blood-feud--and these are uncommonly frequent--a drought, a famine, or a pestilence, workmen strike work, and cloth and beads are offered in vain. It is evident that the copal-mine can never be regularly and efficiently worked as long as it continues in the hands of such unworthy miners. The energy of Europeans, men of capital and purpose, settled on the seaboard with gangs of foreign workmen, would soon remedy existing evils; but they would require not only the special permission, but also the protection of the local government. And although the intensity of the competition principle amongst the Arabs has not yet emulated the ferocious rivalry of civilisation, the new settlers must expect considerable opposition from those in possession. Though the copal diggings are mostly situated beyond the jurisdiction of Zanzibar, the tract labours under all the disadvantages of a monopoly: the diwans, the heavy merchants, and the petty traders of the coast derive from it, it is supposed, profits varying from 80 to 100 per cent. Like other African produce, though almost dirt-cheap, it becomes dear by passing through many hands, and the frasilah, worth from 1 to 3 dollars in the interior, acquires a value of from 8 to 9 dollars at Zanzibar.

Zanzibar is the principal mart for perhaps the finest and largest ivory in the world. It collects the produce of the lands lying between the parallels of 2° N. lat. and 10° S. lat., and the area extends from the coast to the regions lying westward of the Tanganyika Lake. It is almost the only legitimate article of traffic for which caravans now visit the interior.

An account of the ivory markets in Inner Africa will remove sundry false impressions. The Arabs are full of fabulous reports concerning regions where the article may be purchased for its circumference in beads, and greed of gain has led many of them to danger and death. Wherever tusks are used as cattle-pens or to adorn graves, the reason is that they are valueless on account of the want of conveyance.

The elephant has not wholly disappeared from the maritime regions of Zanzibar. It is found, especially during the rainy monsoon, a few miles behind Pangani town: it exists also amongst the Wazegura, as far as their southern limit, the Gama River. The Wadoe hunt the animal in the vicinity of Shakini, a peak within sight of Zanzibar. Though killed out of Uzaramo, and K’hutu, it is found upon the banks of the Kingani and the Rufiji rivers. The coast people now sell their tusks for 30 to 35 dollars’ worth of cloth, beads, and wire per frasilah.

In Western Usagara the elephant extends from Maroro to Ugogi. The people, however, being rarely professional hunters, content themselves with keeping a look-out for the bodies of animals that have died of thirst or of wounds received elsewhere. As the chiefs are acquainted with the luxuries of the coast, their demands are fantastic. They will ask, for instance, for a large tusk--the frasilah is not used in inland sales--a copper caldron worth 15 dollars; a khesi, or fine cloth, costing 20 dollars; and a variable quantity of blue and white cottons: thus, an ivory, weighing perhaps 3 frasilah, may be obtained for 50 dollars.

Ugogo and its encircling deserts are peculiarly rich in elephants. The people are eminently hunters, and, as has been remarked, they trap the animals, and in droughty seasons they find many dead in the jungles. Ivory is somewhat dearer in Ugogo than in Unyamwezi, as caravans rarely visit the coasts. It is generally bartered to return caravans for slaves brought from the interior; of these, five or six represent the value of a large tusk.

The ivory of Unyamwezi is collected from the districts of Mgunda Mk’hali, Usukuma, Umanda, Usagozi, and other adjacent regions. When the “Land of the Moon” was first visited by the Arabs, they purchased, it is said, 10 farasilah of ivory with 1 frasilah of the cheap white or blue porcelains. The price is now between 30 and 35 dollars per frasilah in cloth, beads, and wire. The Africans, ignoring the frasilah, estimate the value of the tusk by its size and quality; and the Arabs ascertain its exact weight by steelyards. Moreover, they raise the weight of what they purchase to 48 lbs., and diminish that which they sell to 23·50 lbs., calling both by the same name, frasilah. When the Arab wishes to raise an outfit at Unyanyembe he can always command three gorahs of domestics (locally worth 30 dollars) per frasilah of ivory. Merchants visiting Karagwah, where the ivory is of superior quality, lay in a stock of white, pink, blue, green, and coral beads, and brass armlets, which must be made up at Unyanyembe to suit the tastes of the people. Cloth is little in demand. For one frasilah of beads and brass wire they purchase about one and a half of ivory. At K’hokoro the price of tusks has greatly risen; a large specimen can scarcely be procured under 40 doti of domestics, one frasilah of brass wire, and 100 fundo of coloured beads. The tusks collected in this country are firm, white, and soft, sometimes running 6 farasilah (210 lbs.) The small quantity collected in Ubena, Urori, and the regions east of the Tanganyika Lake, resembles that of K’hokoro.

The ivory of Ujiji is collected from the provinces lying around the northern third of the lake, especially from Urundi and Uvira. These tusks have one great defect; though white and smooth when freshly taken from the animal, they put forth after a time a sepia-coloured or dark brown spot, extending like a ring over the surface, which gradually spreads and injures the texture. Such is the “Jendai” or “Gendai” ivory, well known at Zanzibar: it is apt to flake off outside, and is little prized on account of its lightness. At Ujiji tusks were cheap but a few years ago, now they fetch an equal weight of porcelain or glass beads, in addition to which the owners--they are generally many--demand from 4 to 8 cloths. Competition, which amongst the Arabs is usually somewhat unscrupulous, has driven the ivory merchant to regions far west of the Tanganyika, and geography will thrive upon the losses of commerce.

The process of elephant-hunting, the complicated division of the spoils, and the mode of transporting tusks to the coast, have already been described. A quantity of ivory, as has appeared, is wasted in bracelets, armlets, and other ornaments. This would not be the case were the imports better calculated to suit the tastes of the people. At present the cloth-stuffs are little prized, and the beads are not sufficiently varied for barbarians who, eminently fickle, require change by way of stimulant. The Arabs seek in ivory six qualities: it must be white, heavy, soft, thick--especially at the point--gently curved--when too much curved it loses from 10 to 14 per cent.--and it must be marked with dark surface-lines, like cracks, running longitudinally towards the point. It is evident from the preceding details that the Arab merchants gain but little beyond a livelihood in plenty and dignity by their expeditions to the interior. An investment of 1,000 dollars rarely yields more than 70 farasilah (2450 lbs.) Assuming the high price of Zanzibar at an average of 50 dollars per farasilah, the stock would be worth 3500 dollars--a net profit of 1050 dollars. Against this, however, must be set off the price of porterage and rations--equal to at least five dollars per frasilah--the enormous interest upon the capital, the wastage of outfit, and the risk of loss, which, upon the whole, is excessive. Though time, toil, and sickness, not being matters of money, are rarely taken into consideration by the Eastern man, they must be set down on the loss side of the account. It is therefore plain that commercial operations on such a scale can be remunerative only to a poor people, and that they can be rendered lucrative to capitalists only by an extension and a development which, depending solely upon improved conveyance, must be brought about by the energy of Europeans. For long centuries past and for centuries to come the Semite and the Hamite have been and will be contented with human labour. The first thought which suggests itself to the sons of Japhet is a tramroad from the coast to the Lake regions.

The subject of ivory as sold at Zanzibar is as complicated as that of sugar in Great Britain or of cotton in America. A detailed treatise would here be out of place, but the following notices may serve to convey an idea of the trade.

The merchants at Zanzibar recognise in ivory, the produce of these regions, three several qualities. The best, a white, soft, and large variety, with small “bamboo,” is that from the Banadir, Brava, Makdishu, and Marka. A somewhat inferior kind, on account of its hardness, is brought from the countries of Chaga, Umasai, and Nguru. The Wamasai often spoil their tusks by cutting them, for the facility of transport; and, like the people of Nguru and other tribes, they stain the exterior by sticking the tooth in the sooty rafters of their chimneyless huts, with the idea that so treated it will not crack or split in the sun. This red colour, erroneously attributed at Zanzibar to the use of ghee, is removed by the people with blood, or cowdung mixed with water. Of these varieties the smaller tusks fetch from 40 to 50 dollars; when they attain a length of 6 feet, the price would be 12_l._; and some choice specimens 7½ feet long fetch 60_l._ A lot of 47 tusks was seen to fetch 1500_l._; the average weight of each was 95 lbs., 80 being considered moderate, and from 70 to 75 lbs. poor.