Chapter 127 Lascampoli Trading Market
Hans Buck exhaled the last puff of smoke and threw the cigarette butt into the sand beside him. A gust of dry wind blew past, and it quickly burned out.
Feeling his throat a little dry, Hans Buck opened the kettle and took another sip of water to moisten his throat.
About four or five minutes later, everyone started to get up, pack up their equipment, climb back on the saddles on the camels, and continue their boring patrol.
The camels of the East African colonies, dromedaries, are mainly distributed in the Middle East and North Africa. Dromedaries are most adapted to desert environments, especially tropical deserts. They can go without water for several months (mainly getting water from plants) and can survive for a week even without food or water.
Bactrian camels are mainly distributed in the Far East and Central Asia. They are suitable for deserts, Gobi and grasslands and are more cold-resistant than dromedaries.
The two also have their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of functional uses. Bactrian camels are suitable for carrying heavy objects and have good endurance, while dromedary camels are suitable for riding and run faster.
…
"Captain, look ahead, are there people moving?" Heinz said to Hans Buck.
Not long after they started walking, Heinz saw a moving black line appear in the sea of sand.
Hans Buck squinted his eyes and looked carefully as Heinz said, and saw a black western line in the desert far ahead, slowly moving towards Kenya.
Hans Buck picked up the telescope under him and placed it in front of his eyes. The scene in the distance immediately became extremely large. After careful observation, he found that it was indeed a group of people dressed in Arab clothes who were crossing the border.
"Brothers, get ready for battle and take out your guns," Hans Buck ordered.
The atmosphere in the entire team suddenly became tense. Everyone took off the guns behind them, untied the gauze wrapped around them, and held them in front of them.
Hans Buck drove the camels and trotted with his troops in the direction of the Arab group.
"Stop! What are you doing?" Hans Buck stopped the Arab and asked him?
There are Arabs and blacks in Somalia. If they are black, Hans Buck will not be so polite. He will usually fire a warning shot to scare them first.
But the Arabs are different. Arabs are mainly engaged in commercial activities in Africa. East Africa itself does business with Arabs, so its attitude towards Arabs is relatively friendly.
Even when there was a little "friction" between the two sides of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, Ernst did not say that he would kill them all. He just left the Zanzibar Island to the Sultanate of Zanzibar to live on. Zanzibar Island is the core of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, so this was considered quite a gesture.
When the Arab heard Hans Buck's question, he was confused, after all, they didn't speak the same language.
Heinz stepped forward and repeated Hans Buck's words in Arabic.
Only these Arabs could understand it. Heinz used to work in Dar es Salaam, so he knew some Arabic and Swahili.
"Friend, we are an Arab caravan heading south to trade. I wonder what kind of power you belong to?" The leader of the Arab caravan said to Hans Buck.
Unlike the natives of inland Africa, the Arabs have seen the world, especially the Arab merchants who travel around. They naturally know the real weapons in the hands of Hans Buck and his team, so they are more respectful.
"We are a patrol team from the East African royal territory of Hechingen. We are ordered to patrol the territory here to prevent anyone from crossing the border." said Hans Buck.
"The Hechingen East African Royal Territory? I wonder if you are the country that neighbors the Zanzibar Sultanate to the south." asked the Arab businessman.
"That's right. Now you can tell me where you are going and what you are going to do!" asked Hans Buck.
After confirming the other party's identity, the Arab merchants became more respectful. In recent years, Arab countries have been greatly weakened. Even the Ottoman Empire could not protect itself, and the Indian Ocean was almost becoming a bathtub for European countries.
The Arab merchant replied, "My name is Akaram, and I am the leader of this caravan. We are traveling from Hama (Mogadishu) to the south to trade with those tribes, mainly to purchase some medicinal herbs and other specialties."
"So that's it!" Hans Buck was relieved. He said to Ekaram, "You don't have to go south anymore!"
"The southern part is now the territory of the Black Xingen East African Royal Family. It is unknown whether the tribes there still exist. You'd better go back as soon as possible. Maybe you can recover some of the losses."
"Sir, why do you say that?" Akaram asked Hans Buck.
"Now, the entire south is under our rule. All external forces, including indigenous peoples, merchants and tribes, are not allowed to enter. This is an order issued by the East African colonial government. When you go back, you can also bring the message to others and tell them not to come here anymore." Hans Buck said.
Hearing this, Aikaramu became a little anxious. He could still bear to fail in doing business today, after all, he was only away for a few days. If there was no business in the future, wouldn't he lose his job?
Aikaram was impatient, but he still said in a friendly manner: "Sir, we are all doing small business, and we all rely on this trade route to support our families! How can we survive if you cut off the trade route!"
Who cares about your life or death? Just when Hans Buck was about to forcibly drive away the group of people, Heinz came to Hans Buck and whispered a few words in his ear.
"How could I have forgotten this!" Hans Buck said in annoyance.
"Okay, don't be anxious and stop crying here. Who is that? Akalam, right? Do you know this place called Raskanpore (the southernmost town in Somalia)?" Hans Buck said.
"Sir, are you talking about a village on the eastern coast?" Akalamu said uncertainly.
"Yes, that's it, that village. If you walk a few miles south along the coastline, you will see a trading market. If you want to get goods, go there!" said Hans Buck.
Aikaramu was still a little embarrassed: "But, sir, this requires a long detour, and I don't know if that place has the goods we need!"
"You don't have to worry about that. Most of the products you can see in the south are available there. Of course, I can't guarantee the availability of medicinal materials, but at least I can let you bring some goods back to make back your investment, which is also good." Hans Buck said.
Needless to say, the Rascamboli market is another trading place of the same nature as the Dar es Salaam slave market.
The slave market does not necessarily have slaves, but can also have ivory, sisal, and even expiring goods such as black cinnamon...
Of course, the Rascampoli trading market was definitely not a slave market. The East African colonies were still relatively loyal. The Sultanate of Zanzibar was severely beaten up at the beginning, and Ernst was a little embarrassed. In order to appease (reduce the Sultanate of Zanzibar’s resistance to ceding territory), the East African colonies packaged the slave business and gave it to the Sultanate of Zanzibar.
In other words, the Sultanate of Zanzibar was the only seller of slaves in the East African colonies and it was a monopoly trade.
At present, the Sultanate of Zanzibar is still very satisfied with this.
"Besides, if you go south now, you may not be able to see those tribes and villages, so it is better to go to Lascampori to trade!" Hans Buck and Aikaram suggested.
At this point, Aikaramu finally understood the hidden message in Hans Buck's previous words. When they first met, Hans Buck said that the existence of the southern tribes was a problem. Now he can emphasize it again. Isn't it obvious that he has been tricked?
Aikaramu felt a chill in his heart. This Hei Xinggen was indeed not a good person. As a businessman, Aikaramu had traveled far and wide and had a wide range of experience. He had been to Liberia in North Africa in the west, Damascus in the east, and parts of Kenya in the south. He had seen all kinds of things.
In this area, there are countless conflicts between Arabs and Westerners, Arabs and indigenous people, and indigenous tribes and indigenous tribes.
Now there is a new player in East Africa, and he is quite powerful. It seems that this business trip cannot be done. We can only try our luck in Lascampo, which is mentioned by the Heixingen forces.
Laskanpore is a transliterated place name and an important stop on many trade routes. So for Aikaramu, who has been doing business in this area for many years, he knows where Laskanpore is as soon as he hears it, although their accent is not very accurate.
"Thank you for your reminder. Let's go east to Lascampo and try our luck." Akaram said to Hans Buck and others.
"Also, you should try to stay close to the northern side of the desert and avoid running into our people. What if the officers of the next team are not as easy to talk to as me? You know!" Hans Buck emphasized.
"Thank you, thank you!" This time, Akram thanked Hans Buck from the bottom of his heart. This was life-saving information.
Afterwards, the two teams separated. Aikaram, who valued his life, naturally retreated a long way to the north before turning eastward towards Lascampori.
Hans Buck and others continued to move westward towards Divo (the name of the stronghold).
…
Four days later.
"This is the Lascampori trading market. It looks like a pretty big market!" said Aikaram.
The Rascampore Trading Market was established by the East African colonial government, not far south of the original Rascampore village.
Al-Akaram observed that some Arab merchants had already started doing business here. These were Arab merchants who were persuaded to come here like Al-Akaram.
The market is managed by the force called Hexingen. The Hexingen market is patrolled by armed men dressed the same as Hans Buck and his group whom they saw on the road that day.
The East African colonial government specially prepared many specialty products, including ivory and cloves, sisal weavings, grain and European industrial products.
After tying up the camel, Akaram took his men to the market.
"Well, the quality of this woven fabric is good!" Aikaram thought in his mind while holding the linen produced in Tanga in his hand.
He pulled the sample with his hand and found it was quite strong. This kind of high-quality and cheap fabric would be very popular when sold to ordinary residents in Somalia.
Aikaramu was mainly attracted by the quality of sisal cloth and wanted to use this cloth as material to process some daily necessities, such as carpets and utensils, which could be added as decoration, or to save costs. Anyway, the price is not expensive.
The main products sold in the Las Campori market are raw materials, such as unprocessed ivory, animal skins, hemp ropes, linen, logs, grain, etc. Except for ivory, most of them are needed by Somalia and North Africa. Of course, ivory, which has high profits, is also very good.
Unfortunately, there are too few Arab merchants in the Las Campori market, and many of the products they trade are not worth mentioning, such as salt, a necessity for many indigenous people.
East African salt is mainly divided into two parts. One part is the salt fields built after the coastal areas were acquired, and the other part is imported from Germany. Germany is an important salt exporter in Europe, especially from the Port of Hamburg, which can transport a large amount of salt to East Africa to solve the salt problem in East Africa. The quality is good.
Of course, Arab currency is still acceptable, but as for some small gadgets used to deceive the natives, the East African colonies naturally look down on them.
Many Arab merchants who arrived this time could only sigh at the sight of the goods, and then go back to raise money and other materials to be accepted by East Africa.
Aikaramu did make some gains. The price of linen was not high, so he bought a large amount and prepared to take it back to sell.
The Ras Kampori trading market has just been built, but it provides a commercial channel for the southern Somalia region. Many commodities that once needed to be shipped from North Africa (Egypt) can now be purchased in Ras Kampori at a cheaper price, which greatly facilitates Arab merchants to earn the difference.
(End of this chapter)
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