Although several of the ornaments that have been introduced by the traders pass as currency, nothing in this respect can compare with beads, of which different tribes exhibit a preference for certain colours. Hereabouts the violet, the yellow, and the pink were reckoned as of no value at all; those which were most highly appreciated were the light and dark blue, after which rank the vermilion, Indian red, white, black, and green. The whole of these are of the kind of small beads about one-twentieth of an inch in diameter. Amongst the medium-sized beads, about one-fifth of an inch long, those seem to be most sought after which are variegated, or have white spots on a dark ground, but sulphur-coloured and green are likewise in good request. To every tribe alike the shape of the beads is quite a matter of indifference.
No matter how ill a traveller in the Marutse district may be, nor how many bearers he may require, if only he has a good stock of blue beads he may always be sure of commanding the best attention and of securing the amplest services; his beads will prove an attraction irresistible to sovereign and subject, to man, woman, and child, to freeman and bondsman alike.
It may fairly be claimed for the Marutse that they have decidedly better taste in the use of beads as ornaments than any of the tribes south of the Zambesi. They avoid crowding them on to their lower extremities, like the Bakuenas and Bamangwatos, or huddling them round their necks and arms, like the Makalakas; but they string them, and arrange them with considerable grace on different parts of their body.
