Why camel traders are getting the hump

IN 1906 LORENZ HAGENBECK received a request from the German government to supply its colonial army in South-West Africa (modern-day Namibia) with 1,000 camels. The animal trader sought out the main force in the industry: Somalis. But upon seeing how they haggled, Hagenback was confounded, “for I had not mastered the secret finger-language used in that trade”.More than a century later clandestine, tactile negotiating can still be seen in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. The city’s livestock market is a bustling and noisy place: goats bleat, camels bellow and sellers extol their animals’ constitutions. When it comes to reaching a price, however, all is silent. The parties on each side of the trade slip an arm under a shawl. The buyer makes an offer by grabbing the sellers’ fingers. The number of fingers gripped and knuckles pressed determines the bid. If it is too low the seller manoeuvres the hold. On and on they go, hands like human abacuses, until a deal is done.