# His childhood memories concerning his homeland  
In the part of his memoirs concerning his homeland, Nadir Agha mentions the local cuisine, the way of dressing and bartering items in the neighbourhood in which he grew up. He states that the most delicious food of his hometown was fresh corn wrapped in banana leaves, called kimbo in his native language. ${ }^{17}$ To the modern reader's surprise, Nadir Agha underscores the value of salt as a barter item. This practice of bartering lasted right into the twentieth century in remote areas of Ethiopia. ${ }^{18} \mathrm{He}$ also describes how hair styles differentiated  
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[^0]:    12 Avnüreffik became the Sharif of Mecca between 1882 and 1905 (Kuneralp, 1999, p. 20).
13 The sharifs' role in slave trading in Mecca must have been a common phenomenon. See, for example, a case discussed by Toledano: 'Those who purchased the boy made him a eunuch and brought him to Jidda, where he was purchased by Ömer Nasif Efendi, agent to the late Sharif of Mecca, who sent him to Istanbul to Ali Paşa, probably the famous grand vizier' (2007, p. 105).
14 Some confirmation is available on this ship but it would be interesting to add reports written during its journey, if suchlike existed.
15 In my archival research, I came across documents concerning this event that took place in 1888. A young eunuch named Firuz was killed by an older eunuch named Nedim, who was later executed as a result of the offence. See the documents: BOA: Y..A.. RES, 45, 2; MV, 37, 7; DH.MKT,1546,117
16 For the dreadful details of castration, death rates and post-castration conditions, see Hathaway, pp. 18-23.
17 To get an idea, see tamele (tamal in Spanish), but I have not come across the word kimbo in Internet searches.
18 http://encyclopedia-of-money.blogspot.com.tr/2011/10/salt-currency.html