The Arabic Letters of Ghadames Slaves in the Niger Bend, 1860–1900

This part of the paper deals with the cowrie shells and their import into West Africa, and the cost of their transport in West Africa; with the cowrie currency area and its changes; with the oddities of cowrie arithmetic; and with the final decline of the cowrie currency. A second part will deal with the value of cowries at various times and places, and with cowrie economics.