INGOT OF COPPER FROM EAST CENTRAL AFRICA.
Implements of iron, such as iron spades and the heads of hoes, and so on, were widely circulated as valuable consideration for the purchase of ivory, and ivory itself was, and still is, one of the most valuable of African currencies. From the spade to the spear is but a step, so we need not be surprised to find that the shaped spear-head is equal to a great many pounds sterling on the higher waters of the Congo.
Another form of African money is the armlet or bangle made of metal—bronze most commonly, silver sometimes, gold very rarely; and these are classed under the head of what is known as Ring-Money or "Manillas." However, it must be said that the use of bracelets and bangles as currency was quite common in ancient times before the invention of stamped or coined money.
IRON SPADE.
Everyone is probably aware that beads have played a large part as a currency when Western merchants have been trading with savage tribes; but few people, I imagine, can have any idea how Bead-Money was systematised by Englishmen in their dealings with the natives of Africa. What I am about to say seems beyond belief, but yet it is true. There was one sort of beads used for the purchase of palm oil, a second for ivory, a third for gold, and a fourth for slaves.
CHINESE BOAT MONEY
Our illustrations on p. 644 show the different shapes and sizes of these beads, which were made in London, but they do not exhibit the colours, which were an important feature. These bright and shining baubles tickled the savage fancy, and the same love of bright objects has been already noticed with respect to shell-money.
