Above
this again were tied four large shells, so that when a fish is hooked the
shells begin to jingle, and the fishermen, hid in the bush, immediately
rush out and secure the fish.'
[Illustration of fish trap.]
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE IZRAH MINE--THE IKYOKO CONCESSION--THE RETURN TO AXIM.
The next day (February 2) showed me my objective, Izrah, after a voyage of
nearly three months. The caravan, now homeward-bound after a fashion, rose
early, and we hammocked in the cool and misty morning along shore to
Inyenapoli--the word means Greater Inyena, as opposed to Inyenachi, the
Less. In the house of Mr. J. Eskine I saw his tradesman bartering cloth
for gold-dust. The weighing apparatus is complicated and curious, and
complete sets of implements are rare; they consist of blowers, sifters,
spoons, native scales, weights of many kinds, and 'fetish gong-gongs,' or
dwarf double bells.
Gold-dust is the only coin of the realm; and travellers who would pass
north of the Protectorate must buy it on the coast. It is handier than one
would suppose; even a farthing can be paid in it by putting one or two
grains upon a knife-tip, and there is a name, _peseha_ (Port.
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