the natives of which made gorgeous robes and helmets for their chiefs
and kings out of these much-prized feathers. A third example is of what
is known as Flying-Fox-Money. The fur of the flying-fox is made into
cords, as shown in the illustration, and is very good "money" indeed in
the Loyalty Islands.
[Illustration: COWRY-SHELL-MONEY | FISH-HOOK-MONEY.]
One of the most elementary forms of currency is Adze-Money, and the
specimen selected for presentation here comes from these same Loyalty
Islands. This adze blade is of jade, and I am told that it represents
"the price of a fat man for cannibal purposes."
How enormously valuable such adzes as these are is shown by a statement
that any native who becomes possessed of one is regarded by his fellows
as a millionaire, and in a certain tribe which possessed but one such
adze the coveted object was passed at the end of each week from one
native to another. Its lucky possessor for the time being was regarded
as the richest man in the world by all the others, who waited
impatiently to become in their turn millionaires "for one week only."
[Illustration: CORD MADE FROM FLYING-FOX USED AS CASH.]
Amongst other queer kinds of money in use in the South Seas may be
mentioned the "Tabua" or whale's tooth of Fiji; the Mat-Money--small
mats made of grass, curiously woven in quaint patterns, current in
various parts of Melanesia (a somewhat similar currency is to be found
amongst the Thlinket Indians of Alaska); and rings of quartzite, of
which an illustration, taken from a specimen from the New Hebrides, is
given above.
[Illustration: QUARTZITE RING AND MADAGASCAR BANGLE.]
It may be noticed that there is much of the artistic about these
Pacific Islands moneys; those current in Africa do not exhibit any
characteristic of the kind; they are simply barbaric. Here, for
instance, is a rough ingot of copper of cruciform shape, which was used
as money in East Central Africa, and represents what would be
equivalent to a very heavy balance at an English bank account.
[Illustration: SPADE-HEAD.]
[Illustration: SQUARE INGOT MONEY. WEIGHS 1-1/2 LBS.]
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.
[Illustration: INGOT OF COPPER FROM EAST CENTRAL AFRICA.]
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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: FEATHERS AS MONEY--RED PARROT FEATHERS.]
One of the quaintest of all currencies is that known as the
Fishhook-Money, which can hardly be said to have even yet died out of
use along the shores of the Persian Gulf. It is supposed that these
Larins, as they are termed, originally came from Ceylon, and they
consist of thin pieces of silver bent into the shape of a hook about an
inch in length. In some cases copper is used instead of silver, but
each piece is stamped with its value.
[Illustration: A PAPER BILL FOR 4_d._]
[Illustration: CONGO SPEAR HEAD AS CASH. THE BARB IS JOINED TO THE
SPEAR.]
[Illustration: ENGLISH 2_d._ PIECE, WEIGHS 2 OZS.]
[Illustration: CHINESE CASH, CARRIED ON STRINGS. 1,000 = 3_s._]
The great merchants of the East are the Chinese, and the different
forms of money they have brought into use do not strike us as being
particularly convenient. The commonest of all Chinese moneys is the
_cash_--a round metal disc with a square hole in the middle, the value
of a thousand _cash_ not being much more than three shillings. These
_cash_ are carried about in long strings, and the hole in the middle
receives the string. This form of currency is developed from what is
generally termed "key-money" or "knife-money."
[Illustration: PAPER POSTAGE-MONEY FOR BUYING STAMPS.]
Silver is the great medium of exchange in China and elsewhere in the
East; and a regular feature of all cities and towns and even villages
in China is the money-changer, who in return for so much weight of
silver will hand out so many strings of _cash_. The silver used in
these exchanges is called Sycee silver, and is apparently of any shape
or size.
Sometimes the silver takes the bar or ingot shape, and is then termed
_Nen_. The specimen on page 643 is an unusually large one, and weighs
nearly a pound and a half. It was used as currency in Upper Cambodia,
and is stamped on one side with a Chinese inscription which specifies
the weight of the silver and also the name of the merchant who weighed
it and affirmed how much it was worth.
But besides the ingot shape, this Chinese silver currency is found in
many forms, not only in China, but in Singapore, in Ceylon, and
wherever the Chinese trader is found, such as Hat-Money, Shoe-Money,
Boat-Money, Snailshell-Money, Willow-leaf-Money--terms which are all
derived from the actual form the silver has taken after it has come out
of the mould and received the stamp of the particular Chinese merchant
who makes himself responsible for its quality and weight. Some of these
pieces are very small, and consequently are of little value.
[Illustration: THESE SHELLS WERE USED AS MONEY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.]
The oddest of them is certainly the Snailshell-Money, which is really a
bubble of silver solidified into the shape of a shell. It is
characteristic of this sort of money that the silver shows the marks of
the crucible in which it was melted on the side opposite to that which
has received the inscription. To the same class of currency belongs the
Bullet-Money of Siam--lumps of silver of various sizes stamped on one
side. This currency is generally about an ounce in weight, but there
are in existence specimens of it as small as fine shot.
[Illustration: BURMESE GAMBLERS' PORCELAIN-MONEY.]
[Illustration: BAR-MONEY USED IN CHINA.]
[Illustration: SILVER "SHOE-MONEY."]
One of our illustrations exhibits what is probably the least valuable
currency in the world--the porcelain currency used among the gamblers
of Burmah and Siam. Originally intended as nothing more than counters,
they have come to be regarded as money, but of very small value. They
are of various shapes and sizes, with a figure or emblem of some sort
on one side, and on the other an inscription in Chinese, stating how
much such and such a merchant will give for them. I fancy it takes
about a barrelful of them to make a "trade."
Probably the largest pieces of money that have ever been brought into
existence are those known as "Money of Necessity." During the Stuart
wars Charles I. and James II. both coined money of this sort out of
silver plate, gun metal, or anything else that came handy. You will
find such pieces in any museum, and they are of all shapes and sizes.
[Illustration: SIAMESE BULLET-MONEY--WEIGHING AN OUNCE DOWNWARDS.]
The most remarkable specimens which I have been able to find of Money
of Necessity are Swedish in their origin. The half-daler piece on page
639 is a mere baby, although it is three inches square. A four-daler
piece was rather more than a foot square, and weighed nearly seven
pounds. There is a specimen of an eight-daler piece in the British
Museum, which is nearly a yard long and a foot broad. Just fancy
carrying a few such pieces about in one's purse! Perhaps the largest
piece of money in circulation in this country in recent years was the
two-penny copper piece known as the "cartwheel," issued in 1797. It was
quite a chunk of metal, and weighed exactly two ounces. A few years ago
a gentleman collected a very large number of these two-penny pieces,
and paved the floor of his smoking-room with them. No doubt they made
better bricks than coins.
[Illustration: BEADS TO BUY PALMS.]
The smallest pieces of British money have been issued for Malta and
Ceylon, and are of such microscopic values as one-third and one-fourth
of a farthing. The illustrations show the full size of the coins.
[Illustration: BEADS TO BUY IVORY.]
The history of the fifteen-penny piece illustrated at the top of this
article is certainly curious. It was good money in New South Wales some
seventy years ago. In those days there was a great scarcity of "change"
in the colony, and the piece of money in general circulation was the
Spanish dollar. To make it go further, the centre of the dollar was
punched out, and the bit of silver thus obtained was christened
"fifteen pence," and put into circulation as of that value. The
mutilated dollar still retained its original value, and was known as
the "Holy Dollar"--from the round hole in it.
[Illustration: BEADS IN EXCHANGE FOR SLAVES.]
[Illustration: NEW CALEDONIA PURSE COVERED WITH SHELLS.]
Amongst other examples of small currencies I have selected the
Groat-Bill issued in the States before the Revolution, and also a
specimen of the small postage-currency in use in the States immediately
after the Civil War.
For the loan of all the Queer Cash which illustrate this article, we
are indebted jointly to Messrs. Spink, of Piccadilly, and to the
authorities of the British Museum.
[Illustration: BEADS TO GET GOLD.]
They are not a tithe of those which we might have published, but they
are among the most interesting, and show that the money instinct is
prevalent the world over. "Hard" cash it can scarcely be called, for
the feather currency at least is deliciously soft.
CLEVER MRS. BLADON.
AN ACCOUNT OF A BIT OF STRATEGY.
BY E. BURROWES.
_Illustrated by Sydney Cowell._
No one ever disputed the fact that Mrs. Bladon was a distinctly clever
woman. And it proved to be an equally undisputable fact that when Ted
Lumsden managed to outwit her he became the hero of the hour. It
happened on this wise:
Colonel and Mrs. Bladon had a daughter--and a pretty daughter.
Ted Lumsden was young, good-looking, sufficiently well possessed of
this world's goods to be able to regard matrimony as quite a necessary
and probably pleasant experiment. Given two young people with youth,
beauty, and power of attraction, and the solution of the problem is
quite simple.
Ted Lumsden loved Nancy Bladon, whilst Nancy--well, she just tolerated
him. That was what she said to him; what her real feelings on the
subject were is quite another question.
[Illustration: "'I HATE GOING ABROAD. MOTHER, YOU HAVE SOME OTHER
REASON.'"]
But there was Mrs. Bladon in the matter, and she, like the clever woman
she was, said nothing, but thought the more, until one day when for
ten minutes she opened her heart to her husband, and for those ten
minutes spoke concisely and to the point.
"You understand, Roger," she concluded, "it is not that I object to
Lumsden at all; far from it. But what I do object to is the fact that
for years--now don't laugh--years, I repeat, this has been going on,
and nothing definite has ever come of it. Either he is in no hurry, or
else he means nothing, after the fashion of young men of the present
day. _Enfin_, I do not intend Nancy to be kept in a kind of suspense
any longer. If she cares for the boy--well, I am sorry; but my mind is
quite made up on one point: I shall not encourage Ted to haunt our
house any longer. And I shall make it a good excuse to give Nancy three
months on the Continent."
"_Après cela--le déluge_," muttered Colonel Bladon, lazily. "Well, you
know best, my dear; only I don't see why Nancy should be exiled."
"Nonsense; it is no exile to travel for a bit and see a little of the
world. At any rate, it will simplify matters, and that is everything."
So it came to pass that a decree went forth which, like the laws of the
Medes and Persians, altered not. Miss Bladon, chaperoned by Lady
Forsyth, would spend the winter abroad.
"A slight delicacy of chest," murmured clever Mrs. Bladon in answer to
inquiries. "No, nothing serious; still, we think a winter abroad
advisable, under the circumstances."
And the world took its cue very adroitly, and immediately detected a
"transparency" about Nancy's pretty face and round, soft cheeks.
The first inkling of the plot reached Ted Lumsden one sunny afternoon
in December when he called at the big house in Berkeley Square in his
usual casual way.
"Not at home, sir," said the butler, with immovable countenance; and
there was nothing for it but to leave cards and depart. But to her
intimate friend, Lady Forsyth, Mrs. Bladon was rather more explicit.
"A little _affaire du coeur_, my dear Frances, for which there is
nothing like change of air and scene. And, I beg of you, let Nancy
flirt as much as she pleases. I am delighted you are really going by
the Orient to Naples; a delightful voyage, and then there are so many
facilities for harmless flirtation in mid-ocean."
Lady Forsyth laughed gaily.
"My good Theresa, no one could be better than I to chaperon Nancy on an
ocean voyage. Till we pass Gibraltar I shall be visible to no one but
my maid and the stewardess, such is the effect Neptune has upon me. And
as for flirtation, your pretty daughter may do that as much as she
likes. _I_ shall be none the wiser, and you know how vague and dreamy
George is."
The subject of all this commotion rebelled somewhat at this summary
measure. But Mrs. Bladon quelled the revolt gently.
"Travel, dearest, will do you a world of good, and you will enjoy the
complete change of scene. Besides--your health."
Nancy frowned.
"I am not ill. I hate going abroad. Mother, you have some other
reason."
Mrs. Bladon laughed.
"Only for your good, darling. By the way, remember we are dining out
to-night; wear your pink dress, dear."
There was no more said on either side, though more than once Miss
Bladon was much tempted to reopen the argument.
Curiously enough, she did not see Lumsden again. Fate seemed to be
against her, and when the day came on which she was to join Lady
Forsyth at Paddington _en route_ for Plymouth, from whence they were to
sail in the _Orotava_, it brought to Nancy a very heavy heart.
Five minutes after she had left the house Lumsden arrived at the hall
door.
"Just gone, sir. Miss Bladon's going abroad for her 'ealth, sir."
"Going abroad! What station?"
"Paddington, sir."
The man's grim face relaxed into a smile as Lumsden dashed down the
square and jumped into a passing hansom.
"Double fare if you reach Paddington in five minutes," he shouted,
thoroughly roused out of his normal state of lazy contentment by this
unexpected move on the enemy's part.
He understood Mrs. Bladon perhaps better than that astute lady
imagined.
At Paddington he espied the party--Sir George and Lady Forsyth, with
valet and maid and a mass of baggage; Mrs. Bladon calm and serene, with
Nancy lovelier than ever in her dark blue travelling costume with a
touch of vivid scarlet at the throat.
She was looking anxiously about her, and as her eyes lighted on
Lumsden's dark handsome face and tall lithe figure she smiled--a
little, quick, flashing smile, mingled with a tinge of pink colour in
her soft cheeks.
He made his way towards her as she was borne towards the Plymouth
express in a vortex of people and baggage.
There was only five minutes, and she was going abroad.
Perhaps he had never realised all she was to him till that moment, and
in the instant when Mrs. Bladon was saying last words to Lady Forsyth
he reached Nancy's side. Their hands met in a long and close clasp.
"I could not believe it--that you were going away," he said, in quick,
eager tones; "why did you not tell me?"
"I never saw you," she began, quickly. "You never came, and----"
"Good morning," broke in Mrs. Bladon, not one whit disconcerted at the
unwelcome arrival of Lumsden on the scene. "Yes, Nancy is going abroad.
Lucky girl, to escape cold, dreary England; and now, remember, dearest,
to wrap up on the voyage, and don't stay up on deck after dinner till
you get used to the chilly air. Good-bye, Frances; send me a line from
Gibraltar. How I envy you! Yes, the _Orotava_ is a fine boat. _Bon
voyage._ Good-bye, darling."
[Illustration: LUMSDEN COULD ONLY SAY, "WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME YOU
WERE GOING AWAY?" WHEN MRS. BLADON BROKE IN--]
The train began to glide out of the station, and only a last sweet
smile remained to Lumsden as Mrs. Bladon and he were left standing
together on the gloomy platform. Then, when the train had passed out of
sight, he swung round and faced Mrs. Bladon with a half-contemptuous
smile in his dark, keen eyes.
"Well?" he said, coolly.
She laughed.
"Is it well?" she said, lightly. "You were hardly in time, were you?
Nancy will have a delightful time with the Forsyths. Italy, perhaps
Algiers; a charming tour away from this fog."
He threw up his head with a sudden characteristic gesture.
"Yes--of course. It was sudden, though. Why was I not told of it?"
They were walking out of the station, and Mrs. Bladon fastened her furs
closely round her. It was bitterly cold.
"My dear Mr. Lumsden," she said, airily, as he opened the door of her
carriage, "am I answerable to you for my doings? And you know it is
best."
"Are you sure of that?" he said, coolly. "Perhaps there are two
opinions about it. I am a fatalist, Mrs. Bladon."
"Really? I envy you. Can I give you a lift? No? Then home, James."
Lumsden walked quickly away, his pulses beating fast.
Stay. He had an idea--a brilliant idea. He would not accept defeat so
easily. It was early in the day, and he was free for a month. In a
month one may do wonders.
* * * * *
The sun was shining with dazzling brilliance as the _Orotava_ dropped
her anchor between the lightships in Gibraltar Harbour, in the shadow
of the great grey rock; and as Nancy Bladon looked over the side,
eagerly scanning the fascinating scene around her, something of the
witchery of that sunny Southern air stirred her young blood, and made
her pulses beat madly.
The Forsyths were going ashore, and, driving through the narrow
streets, Nancy, viewing everything in the light of her own joyous
youth, felt enchanted with the picturesque Moors.
As they returned to the ship, and ascended out of the heavy,
flat-bottomed boat, another came alongside with several passengers.
Lady Forsyth had gone into the saloon, leaving Nancy leaning against
the rail in the dancing sunshine. Presently she half turned round,
and--found herself face to face with Ted Lumsden!
[Illustration: "SHE HALF TURNED ROUND AND FOUND HERSELF FACE TO FACE
WITH TED LUMSDEN."]
He, cool, nonchalant as ever, took her hand, with a quick smile.
"Well, so you see I am also going abroad--for my health."
There was a significance in the words which made the warm blood leap to
Nancy's cheeks.
"But how did you come?" she said, in tones of the utmost astonishment.
"Overland--to Algeciras," he returned, coolly. "Caught the _Orotava_
nicely, and had a day to spare in Gibraltar. Now that I _am_ here, you
will not send me away?"
"Why should I?"
In that moment she understood her mother's tactics. Why should she run
away from Fate in the shape of Lumsden?
Lady Forsyth, returning to her charge as they steamed away into the
Mediterranean, found her engaged in what appeared to be a very
promising flirtation, such as would surely have delighted the heart of
clever Mrs. Bladon.
She was secretly charmed with Lumsden, whom she had not noticed at
Paddington, and to her letter to Mrs. Bladon, which she was writing to
post at Naples, she added a postscript which filled that lady with
unholy joy:
"Be quite easy about Nancy; I think all danger is over. A flirtation is
in grand progress, and, between ourselves, the man is charming."
She quite forgot to mention his name, which, perhaps, was quite as well
for that lady's peace of mind.
To Nancy and Lumsden there ensued a period of bliss. Steaming down the
Mediterranean, with very little motion to disturb the equanimity even
of Lady Forsyth, what halcyon days those were when, after dinner, in
secluded corners of the deck, under the brilliant Southern moon, they
walked up and down--silent very often, with the silence of a perfect
understanding--till one fateful evening when Lumsden resolved to know
his fate.
"Do you know, Nancy," he began (he had never called her Nancy before),
"before you came away I think your mother took a dislike to me?"
"Oh, no--how could she?" said Nancy. "She always said she liked you.
Besides----"
She paused abruptly, and Lumsden stole a glance at her half-averted
face, which in the moonlight looked strangely sweet.
"Well, I called to see you several times, and you were always 'not at
home.'"
[Illustration: "LUMSDEN NOTICED WITH INWARD MIRTH AN INCREASED
CORDIALITY IN MRS. BLADON'S MANNER."]
Nancy started.
"Then that day at the station--well, I began to see," he continued,
"and I resolved to wait no longer. Nancy, I followed you. I never knew
till then how much you were to me; and now can you trust me more and
love me a little? I have loved you--always--darling."
Then the inevitable question arose--what would Lady Forsyth say? and
further, what about Mrs. Bladon?
Nancy suggested, and her suggestion was accepted, that Lady Forsyth
should be confided in. So it came to pass that the following morning
Lumsden and Lady Forsyth sauntered up and down the deck for some time
together, and for ten minutes Lumsden spoke, in cool, level tones, at
the end of which time Lady Forsyth laughed and shook her head
reprovingly.
"Oh, you men!" she said. "Well, I suppose I can say and do nothing. It
only remains for you to have it out with Mrs. Bladon. I have my own
opinions."
Lumsden laughed.
Their eyes met with a look of mutual understanding.
"So have I," he said, drily. "Mrs. Bladon is a clever woman. If this
sudden voyage had not taken place, who knows but that we might still
have been in the throes of uncertainty?"
"Ah!"
It was very clear now to Frances Forsyth that Mrs. Bladon's manoeuvre
had been well timed.
For a few short happy days they lingered in Naples, revelling in its
beauty.
Then it was arranged that Lumsden should return to England alone, and
see Mrs. Bladon. He felt he could not spare so long a holiday abroad,
and now that his journey had not been in vain he found himself once
more in foggy London, light of heart, cheerful, and cool as ever.
The lamps were lit when he was shown into the drawing-room where Mrs.
Bladon was busy at her writing-table, and he noticed with some inward
mirth that there was a distinct increase of cordiality in Mrs. Bladon's
manner.
"You're quite a stranger, Mr. Lumsden," she began; "surely you've been
out of town. Wise man! If I could only leave these terrible fogs and
bitter winds!"
"Yes, Italy now is delightful."
Mrs. Bladon smiled unconsciously.
"Delicious, so Nancy says. Dear child, this trip is doing her a world
of good. She writes such bright, happy letters; and indeed--you are an
old friend of hers, Mr. Lumsden, and there is no harm in telling you--I
think, from what Lady Forsyth has told me, that our dear child has
found her fate. I know nothing definite, but one can read between the
lines."