The silent trade

Al-Masudi describes a transaction that takes place without seeing or speaking, in the land of gold near Sijilmasa in the Maghrib, beyond the great river. ²

The merchants leave their goods on the shore and then depart. They find, beside each lot of goods, pillars of gold. If the owner of the goods wishes, he takes the gold and leaves the goods; if he wishes, he takes his goods and leaves the gold; and if he wants more, he leaves both the gold and the goods. ²

He mentions that a people at the far edge of Khurasan, bordering the land of the Turks, trade in this way on a great river. ²