A more politic and more effectual mode of aiding his finances is fruitlessly offered by the salt lakes of the Province of Domboo: for, as the great Empire of Cashna is entirely destitute of salt, and none is found in the dominions of the Negros, the sole possession of this article might insure to the King of Bornou a constant and ample revenue of the best kind, a revenue collected from the subjects of Foreign States; but such is the prevalence of antient custom over the obvious suggestions of policy, that the people of Agadez, a Province of the Cashna Empire, are annually permitted to load their immense caravans with the salt of Bornou, and to engross the profits of this invaluable trade. The salt is collected on the shores of the several lakes which produce it, and the only acknowledgement that the Merchants of Agadez give in return for the article, is the trifling price which they pay in brass and copper (the currency of Bornou) to the neighbouring peasants. The civet, which forms another article of the export trade of Bornou, and the greatest part of which is sent to the Negro States who inhabit far to the South, is obtained from a species of wild cat that is common in the woods of Bornou and of Cashna. This animal is taken alive in a trap prepared for the purpose, is placed in a cage, and is strongly irritated till a copious perspiration is produced. Its sweat, and especially the moisture that appears upon the tail, is then scraped off, is preserved in a bladder, and constitutes the much valued perfume. After a short interval the operation is renewed, and is repeated, from time to time, till at the end of twelve or fourteen days the animal dies of the fatigue and continual torment. The quantity obtained from one cat is generally about half an ounce. Of _Manufactures_, none for exportation are furnished by the people of Bornou; but the Shereef remarks that, for their own consumption, they fabricate from the iron ore of their country, though with little skill, such slight tools as their husbandry requires.[32] In return for their exports, they receive the following goods: Copper and Brass, which are brought to them from Tripoli, by the way of Fezzan, and which, as already mentioned, are used as the current species of Bornou; Imperial Dollars, which are also brought to them from Tripoli by the Merchants of Fezzan, and are converted by their own artists into rings and bracelets for their women; Red Woollen Caps, which are worn under the turban; Check Linens, Light coarse Woollen Cloths, Baize, Barakans, Small Turkey Carpets, Plain Mesurata Carpets. ~CHAPTER VII.~ _Rout from Mourzouk to Cashna — Boundaries of the Empire — Its Language, Currency, and Trade._ * * * * *