Due to the many different languages spoken by merchants and traders and the need to keep locations of some resources secret, Wes
t Africans traded and exchanged their goods indirectly. They never saw each other, yet successfully conducted trade. This unique method of trade was called _______________. *
Silent trade is a form of the old style of trading which is even more common to the West Africans.
It involves a situation whereby traders who do not understand each other's language, tried to perform trade.
To trade successfully, for example, PARTY A would leave trade goods in a secret but a known place to the buying party, and make a loud signal that good is left somewhere. PARTY B would then get to the place, examine the goods, and deposit their object of exchange that they wanted to exchange, and withdraw.
