Africa by Élisée Reclus/Volume 4/Chapter 10
CHAPTER X.
ZANZIBAR.
German East African Protectorate.
HE region of coastlands stretching north of the Rovuma as far as and beyond Mombaz belonged, like the Mozambique coast, at one time to Portugal, whose power or influence, thanks to its widespread commercial relations, extended in many places for some distance into the interior, But towards the close of the seventeenth century the revolts of the natives, coinciding with the attacks of the Arabs, compelled the whites to abandon their fortresses, and then the whole of the seaboard facing Zanzibar and the neighbouring islands fell into the possession of the Sultan of Muscat. For about a hundred and fifty years this potentate maintained his authority as "King of the Sea" from the Persian Gulf to Cape Delgado. Then in 1856 the empire was divided, the East African coast for a space of about nine hundred miles falling to the share of a son of the Muscat sovereign, whose dynasty, under the guidance and almost the protectorate of Great Britain, acquired considerable power on this seaboard. The name of the Sultan of Zanzibar was respected throughout the whole of East Africa as far inland as Lake Tanganyika and the Upper Congo basin, and it was mainly through his support and influence that travellers were in recent times enabled to bring to a successful issue the numerous exploring expeditions undertaken by them in the regions of the interior stretching west of his dominions. At present the influence, or at least the political role, of Germany has supplanted that of England at the court of the Sultan, who has become a mere vassal of the German Empire.
The German Annexations.
In 1884 the Ma-Duchi, as the Germans are called by the natives, first began to move beyond their original trading stations for the purpose of securing territory on the east coast of Africa, and in the course of four years their domain has already acquired a great development. In the section of the continent facing Zanzibar, between the two rivers Kingani and Rufu, it comprises a space of about 22,000 square miles. But this is the mere nucleus of the vast colonial empire which Germany reserves to herself the right of gradually extending as far as Tanganyika, source of the Congo, and to Victoria Nyanza, source of the Nile In taking possession of these lands the German traders, sure of the support of their Government, proceeded with rare boldness and foresight. Disguised as poor emigrants they landed at Saadani, without betraying their true character, and within seven days they had executed their first treaty of annexation, which was soon followed by several others. Hastening to take their stand on accomplished facts, they obtained from the Berlin Government a "letter of protection," and then an Imperial charter, armed with which documents they felt confident that
their interests would henceforth be safeguarded against those both of Great Britain and the Sultan of Zanzibar.
A German fleet then made its appearance before the royal residence, and under the muzzles of the guns the Sultan was fain to recognise 'that his suzerainty had ceased for ever. He even surrendered the two chief ports that still remained to him on this coast, thus handing over to the agents of the German customs the keys of his treasury. In 1886 a special convention signed with England recognised not only the annexations already made by the Germans, but also those which they intended making at some future time. The respective "zones of influence" which England and Germany propose to incorporate in their colonial empires as soon as their first acquisitions are consolidated, are henceforth limited ZANZIBAR. 803 by a conventional line running south-eastwards from Kavirondoland on the east side of Victoria Nyanza to the Indian Ocean. This line passes to the north of the snowy Kilima-Njaro, monarch of African mountains, while on the south the future German domain is bounded by the coursa of the Rovuma, separating it from the Portuguese Mozambique lands. Beyond a narrow strip of coastlands recognised by a sort of "diplomatic fiction " us still belonging to the Sultan of Zanzibar, the region figuring on the maps as forming the future German East African domain covers a superficial area of 120,000 square miles, with a total population approximately estimated at not more than three million souls. To this domain may already be added what remains of the Zanzibar state, to which the new Sultan, Said Khalif, succeeded in March, 1888, as the officially acknowledged vassal of Germany. Thus consolidated on a sure political footing, the financial society by which the first treaties were concluded has been able to develop into a more powerful company disposing of a considerable capital. The association also commands the services of a body of skilled and learned explorers, who are now studying the mineral, agricultural, and commercial resources of the country, indicating the points to be occupied, and tracing the routes destined soon to connect the inland stations with the ports on the east coast. Numerous stations have already been founded in the Kingani, AVarai, and Rufu river valleys, and the ground in the neighbourhood of all these places has been cleared by the planters for the culti- vation of cofPee, cotton, tobacco, European and African vegetables. Protestant and Catholic German missionaries have also established themselves in these new settlements, where chapels and schools are to be opened. Through the interven- tion of the Pope the French missionaries, who had long been labouring in this field, have now been replaced by Germans. But however active and enterprising may be the " protectors " of the popu- lations dwelling in the region comprised between Zanzibar and Tanganyika, a large extent of the territory claimed by them still remains to be explored. The best-known district, one of those that have been most frequently described by travellers, is the zone of the caravan routes, whose intersecting tracks wind through Ugogo and Unyamezi from the Indian Ocean to the shores of Tanganjaka. This is the region first traversed by Burton and Spekc, by Livingstone, Stanley, and Cameron, and since the time of these pioneers of geographical discovery, by nume- rous other European explorers, traders, missionaries, or soldiers. A portion of the territory has even already been carefully surveyed by means of astronomical observations, while a first map of the neighbourhood of Kondoa, in the AVami Valley, is based on a scientific triangulation. But vast spaces stretching to the north and south along both sides of the commercial highways are still known only through the vague reports supplied by the natives, and the geographical features of these districts are figured differently on the different maps of travellers and explorers. 804 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. Physical Features. The Rufiji ( Ru-Fiji ), Rufu (Ru-Fu), and Wami Rivers, which water the region of coastlunds till recently known by the general name of the Zanzibar coast, from the neigl)l)<)uring island of Zanzibar, are characterised by basins whose natural limits are in man V places somewhat undecided. On the south west the lofty chain of the Livingstone Mountains separates the farthest sources of the Rufiji from the torrents rushing impetuously down to Lake Nyassa. This watershed is continued north- wards bv other ranges, the Yomatema heights and plateaux, all of which fall continually in this direction. Hence in the Ugogo territory crossed by the caravan routes, the transition is very gradual between the headstrcams of the Malagazi, flowing to the Congo basin, and those running east to the Indian Ocean. Here the divide is formed by an extensive tableland standing at a mean altitude of from 3,500 to 4,000 feet, and in the most elevated parts rising to 4,300 feet. Here and there the uniform surface is broken by a few granite crests cropping out through the pre- vailinir sandstone and reddish laterite formations. Northwards the horizon is limited bv the table mountains which are inhabited by the Wahuma people, and which from a distance appear to rise a few hundred yards above the level of the plateaux. The mountain ranges, properly so called, are developed entirely within the basins of the riveis flowing seawards, between the dividing tablelands and the seaboard. To these ranges liurton has given the name of the "African Ghats," comparing their outlines to those of the Indian Ghats which form the outer escarpments of the Deccan. But unlike the Indian Ghats, these LTsagara ranges are not merely the outer Cfcarpment of an elevated plateau, but, although to a less degree, present also the aspect of true mountains on their inner or landward slopes, rising on this side in steep scarps above the tableland on which they stand. Connected with the Livingstone range by a slightly inclined plateau, which is carved into terraces by the Rufiji headstreams, and which rises in some of its crests to altitudes of nearly 6,600 feet, the L'^Fagara system ramifies into two parallel main chains running south-west and north-east, in the same direction as the seaboard north of Zanzibar. Nevertheless these chains present great irregularities in their general outlines. In nnny places they throw off transverse spurs, and amid the chaos of crests every- where bounding the horizon it is often im^wssible to follow the main axis of the system. The Rubeho hills, which here form the waterparting between the Rufiji and the "W'ami basins, present on the whole the aspect of a ridge disposed in the direction from north-west to south-east. In the southern or Rufiji basin occur some coalfields, whose economic value has been differently estimated by explorers. The Usagara (L'-Sagara) Mountains are mainly of granite formation, interspersed however with diorites and other eruptive rocks, as well as with schists and sand- stones. The highest crests exceed 6,000 feet, and the Rubeho Pass, crossed by Burton and Speke in 1858, would appear to stand at an elevation of 5,700 feet. These pioneers gave it the name of the " Terrible Pass," owing to the rugged character of the escarpments and the wild disorder of the boidders which, e;chausted
in appearance, these uplands are at least favoured with a salubrious climate, and the Europeans enervated by a residence on the marshy plains of the seaboard might here establish health-resorts to recover their strength in an atmosphere resembling that of the temperate zone. Most of the Usagara villages are built above the river valleys on the advanced spurs of the main ranges.
River Systems
A few inconsiderable watercourses reach the coast north of the Rovuma estuary; but the first large fluvial delta is that of the Rufiji or Lufiji, which lies 180 miles beyond that point. This river does not flow from Lake Nyassa, as was reported to Livingstone by the natives; nevertheless its farthest headstreams have their sources to the west of this lacustrine basin, and its ramifying affluents drain a vast extent of land on both sides of the ranges skirting the plateau. The whole area of drainage comprises an area roughly estimated at 6,000 square miles. The Luwego, or Luvu (Lu-Wego, Lu-Vu), the chief southern tributary, has not yet been surveyed to its source. It is not navigable, and probably has its source in the Livingstone Mountains, flowing thence in a north-westerly direction to its junction with the Uranga (U-Ranga). This branch comes from the west, plunging from fall to fall in a rocky bed flanked by granite walls. But hundreds of canoes formed of single trunks of trees are met in the navigable reaches, which during the rainy season sometimes expand to a breadth of over 2,000 yards.
The united Luwego and Uranga take the name of Rufiji, which a few hundred yards below the confluence tumbles over the Shuguli Cascades, a series of falls and rapids skirted by granite cliffs. Above these cataracts some rocky islets in both converging branches serve as refuges for the natives exposed to the sudden attacks of marauders. Lower down the Rufiji continues the north-easterly course of the southern or Luwego branch, and offers at intervals a few navigable reaches, although in many places the canoes of the natives are arrested by rapids, reefs, and sandbanks. These obstructions grow more numerous as the mainstream approaches the confluence of the Ruaha (Rua-Ha), a large stream from the west, whose basin comprises a large tract of country between Urori and Ugogo. Like the Luwego, the Luaha is unnavigable, notwithstanding the large volume of water it rolls down during the rainy season, when it becomes the largest branch of the whole system. But during the period of drought it is a less copious stream than the Rufiji.
After its confluence with the Ruaha, the Rufiji receives no further contributions from any quarter; but before reaching the sea it has still to surmount the barrier presented by the most advanced ridge of the coast ranges. This ridge runs north and south athwart the course of the river, which pierces it at the gorge where it rushes over the Pangani Falls. No accurate measurement has yet been taken of the total incline at this point, but it must be very considerable, as is evident from the relief of the hills, which is much greater on the eastern or outer than on the inner side. neh 7,
In the Mrima, or coast region below the Pangani Falls, the Rufiji is navigable for the rest of its course seawards, a distance altogether of about 120 miles. But
great care and skill are required to avoid the sand or mudbanks, which are formed or shifted with every recurring inundation. In this part of its course the river has even excavated a new channel, which winds to the south of a now abandoned branch. Lower down, in the delta proper, these branches are constantly being I.AKE EIKWA. 807 displaced. The alluvial deposits, incessantly disturbed by the current, presents every year a fresh system of ramifying channels, while seawards the outlines of the coast are continually modified by the ceaseless action of the coral-building polyps. In proportion to the size of its basin, the Rufiji delta is very extensive, developing a coastline about 54 miles long and covering a total superficial area of no less than GOO square miles. It is intersected by about a dozen so-cuUod mtoH, or estuaries, some of which are not in constant communication with the fluvial system, although connected with it for the greater part of the year, when the sweet and saline waters are intermingled in their channels. The largest volumes of the fluvial current are discharged through the northern branches, the Bumba or Msala, the Kiomboni, Siinba-Uranga, and Kibunya, and these are consequently the most accessible to shipping, which is able to ascend them at high water. The Simba-Uranga mouth especially is much frequented by coasters, which come to load timber on the banks of the river. All the channels in the neighbourhood of the sea are fringed by dense mangrove thickets, and here the few habitations of the natives are raised on piles sunk in the mud. Higher up, where the .'^oil is less saturated with moisture, no more trees arc seen, and the ground is covered with tall grasses, yielding where cultivated rich crops of rice. Compared with the Rufiji, the other streams discharging into the Zanzibar waters are of inconsiderable size. The Kingani, which Holm wood ascended for a distance of 120 miles from its mouth, is also known as the Mto, Mbazi, or Rufu (Ru-Fu), names which have all the same meaning of '* river." It has its source in the valleys of the eastern slope east of the Usagara uplands. The Waini, which also reaches the coast opposite the island of Zanzibar, but a little farther north, collects its first waters much farther west in the hills skirting the plateau. •' Lake Rikwa. But the space comprised between the basins of these rivers and those flowing to Tanganyika is dotted over with shallow flooded depressions without any out- flow. The largest of these reservoirs, lying west of the heights where the main branches of the Rufigi have their origin, is Ijake Rikwa (Likwa, Ilikwa), which was discovered by Thomson in 1880, and has since been visited by Cotterill and Kaiser. Seen from the summit of the Liambu ^lountains enclosing it on the north- west, and separating it from Tanganyika, Rikwa appears to fill a regular valley disposed north-east and south-west parallel with the axis of Tanganyika and Xyassa, and forming part of the same lacustrine system in the continental relief. It stands at an estimated altitude of nearly 2,600 feet, that is to say, about 100 feet above the level of Tanganyika, and has a probable length of about 60 miles, with a breadth varying from 10 to 20 mihs. Rikwa receives several affluents at both extremities, including even a considerable stream, the Katuma or Mkafu, which takes its rise north of Karema, in the mountains skirting the great lake. But all these contributions of fresh water, being carried off by the evaporation of the 308 SOUTH AND EAST AFBICA. basin, cannot prevent the formation of a residuum of saline substances in this lacustrine reservoir, whose waters, according to native report, have a flavour of sulphur. Climate. To the Usagara ^fountains, rising between the plateau and the seaboard, are mainly due the contraste of climate, and consequently of all the phenomena depending on it, including those of the running or stagnant waters. In this region of East Africa the mean direction of the winds is normal with the coast. Whether the south-east trades are in the ascendant, as is the case during the greater part of the year, or whether they are succeeded by those of the north-east, as in the month of January, when the whole atmospheric system is shifted south- wards with the course of the sun, or whether the aerial currents are attracted to the interior of the continent, these currents always set in the direction of the coast. The rain-bearing clouds are thus arrested by the mountain ranges of the interior. For the same reason the alternating daily breezes are felt only on the maritime slope. Hence the opposite side facing landwards, as well as the inland plateaux sheltered from the prevailing easterly winds, are much farther removed from marine influences than might be supposed from their proximity to the Indian Ocean. The mnssi/cn, that is to say, the rainy season, during which the people remain " confined to their houses," generally begins on the coastlands in January, when the east winds are displaced by the north-east monsoon. But the heavy down- pours scarcely set in before March or April. After the month of May they fall off, returning again in the ru/i season, which lasts from the middle of October to the end of the year. September is the driest month, although even then occasional showers occur. In certain inland valleys opening in the direction of the moisture- charged winds, it rains throughout the whole year, except perhaps for a fortnight or so in September. Here the massika makes its appearance much sooner than on the coast, and the mountains are frequently wrapped in dense fog. The total rainfall certainly exceeds 120 inches on the seaward slope of the Usagara uplands. The same contrast that is observed towards the southern extremity of the con- tinent between the Atlantic and Indian Ocean seaboards, is also maintained in these tropical regions lying between the tenth and sixth degrees of south latitude. At equal distances from the equator both the rainfall and the temperature are higher on the east than on the west coast. According to Hann, the difference of temperature under the tenth degree of south latitude, that is about the Rovuma and Cuanza estuaries respectively, is as much as eight degrees Fahrenheit, a contrast which must be attributed to the direction of the marine and aerial currents on the two coasts. The monsoons on the Atlantic side blow almost constantly from the south, and are consequently tempered by the cold Antarctic waters. But on the opposite side of the continent the prevailing winds come from the east, that is by an oceanic basin heated by the vertical solar rays.* . The contrast is even greater • Temperature of the west coast of Africa, 72° F. ; temperature of the east coast of Africa, 80° F. FIX)RA OF U8AGABA. 809 between the respective marine currcntfl. A stream of cold water Het« eteodily in the direction from south to north along the Atlantic seaboard, while a flood of tepid water, escaping from the greut central basin of the Indian Ocean, bathes the eastern shores of the contlueut, flowing southwards through the Mozambique ChanneL The hilly plateaux lying to the leeward of the Usagara highlands are mainly an arid region like the Karroos of Cape Colony. In many districts there is almost a total absence of water, so that the natives are obliged to sink deep wells in the grai'cl in order to collect the little moisture that oozes through the subsoil. In these districts the vuli season passes without bringing any regular heavy rains, while the massika is occasionally interrupted by a period of dry winds, sure forerunner of famine. The same atmospheric currents that bring the rain- charged clouds to the maritime slopes often deprive the plateau of the necessary moisture. To the dryness of the air are added the sultrj' heat of the day and cool nights. Whirlwinds of dust are often developed on the elevated plains, sweeping furiously over the land, and in their eddies bearing along coarse sund and at times even the shingle itself. What the Spaniards say of the Philippines, Burton applies to the Ugogo country : St'is vwzes de polvo, ncis mezes de lodo.
- ' Six months of dust, six of bog." The vapour-charged fogs of the coastlands, '
which at night precipitate a copious dew, do not penetrate fur into the elevated lauds of the interior.* Flora and Fauna. The wealth of vegetation is regulated by the quantity of the rainfall. The zone of coastlands, being sufficiently watered, is everywhere clothed with her- baceous or forest growths. North of the Rovuma the terraced lands inhabited by the JJakondes present the same general aspect as the region south of that river, where the Mavihas have their camping-grounds. Here scrub and brushwood are matted into such dense masses, that no progress can be made except axe in band. In various parts of the northern section of the coastlands the vegetation, while equally dense and more leafy, has a more forest-like character. On leaving the villages, convoys at once plunge into arboreal avenues where the porters have great difficulty in forcing a passage through the tangled branches. Elsewhere the trees are rarer and often grouped in picturesque clusters. In the vicinity of the marshy tracts the reeds and tall grasses grow to a height of 12 or 14 feet, forming a dense jungle, where marauders at times lie in ambush to fall on the unwary wayfarer, or where runaway slaves find a temporary shelter. The msandaruHi^ or copal- tree, which yields the best gum known to commerce, flourishes along the banks of the Lower Rufiji for 35 or 40 miles from the coast. The highlands are clothed especially with mimosas and other plants of low
- Mean Cemperature of Zanzibar as recorded for four jeara, 82° F. ; for March (hottest month), W ;
for July (coldest month), IT ; number of rainj days, 120 ; total rainfall, 60 inches ; rainfall in 1859, 170 inches. 810 SOUTH AND EAST AFBICA. irrowth ; intorsiM^rsol, however, with gigantic tamarinds and sycamores, whose huge spreading branches nnght shelter a whole regiment; or the calabash-tree, m wlL hollow trunk a family might be accommodated. The Usagara Mountains abound espe<.ially in arborescent species with sweet-smelling flowers and dehcious fruits although never improved by cultivation. Wooded tracts are often met where the traveller might fancv himself everywhere surrounded by dense forests, vet as he advances the trees are seen to grow rarer and soon give place to tne mKMi savannah. In the Ugogo district, on the opposite side of the mountains, w<H,.ls are still met in the well-watered bottom-lands, while elsewhere fuel is so scarce that the natives arc obliged to burn cow-dung, as in the prairies of the Far West. Nevertheless, in these regions some large trees are still met, here a few calabashes or a solitary baobab indicating the site of human abodes, there a giirantic euphorbia scrying as a landmark or station for caravans. ^ ' But if forest growths are rare, large animals still abound, especially in the districts remote from the trade routes. Certain parts of the plateau are still frequented by the elephant, the rhinoceros, giraffe, buffalo, and ostrich. Till recently even lions were so numerous that villages had to be displaced to avoid their dangerous neighbourhood. Inhabitants. Several of the tribes dwelling in the northern part of the Rovuma basin scarcelv dilfer in speech and usages from the populations inhabiting the southern slope. Some lead an unsettled existence, frequently changing their settlements and making incursions on both sides of the river. Thus the Wanindis and the Mao-wano-waras, or Makondes, who assume the formidable name of Maviti in order to strike terror into their more timid neighbours, and who have wasted so many districts and enslaved so miny peoples on the south side of the Rovuma, have now established their chief encampments on the opposite slope. The two groups of tribes which confront each other from their -elevated terraces on both sides of the Lower Rovuma, speak a common language, and in other respects present such a strong family likeness, that they are evidently branches of the same race, notwith- standing their distinctive tribal names. On the south reside the Mavihas (Ma-Viha), on the north the Makondes, (Ma-Konde), the latter rendered extremely repulsive by the scarifications covering face and body, which are renewed from time to time in such a way as to raise ])rominent ridges on the surface of the skin. The pelele is also universally worn by the women, giving the upper lip from a distance somewhat the appearance of a boar's snout. Nevertheless the Makonde women enjoy a considerable share of indepondence. They are not purchased, nor do their parents claim the right to disj)()se of them in marriage. On the contrary, they choose their own husbands, and when the matter has bee'^ settled by mutual consent, the bride enters her new home, sweeping the floor and setting everything in order. She is then joined by the bridegroom, who leaves his gun or other arms at the door. But although this completes the simple wedding rites, unions are, 18 a rule, much respected. Cuses of infidelity are extremely rare, and when they do occur, the offence is always punished by the banishment of the delinquent. After a confinement the wife lives apart from her husband till the child begins to speak. Then on the day of reunion the mother brings her offspring to the crossing of two paths, symbolising the different ways of life, and after rubbing it over with oil resigns it to the father, and the family life is resumed.
At the death of a Makonde all the grain he possessed is immediately converted into beer for the benefit of the community, and the mourning or feasting lasts until all the liquor is consumed. Enriched by the sale of the gum copal and
caoutchouc, large quantities of which are produced in their territory, the Makuas have become very proud and overbearing, and show much mistrust at the visits of strangers. Some English missionaries settled in the Masasi country, on the western border of the Makonde territory, have hitherto failed to establish uninterrupted relations with these natives. In the year 1877, when Chauncy Maples penetrated into one of their villages, the inhabitants, who had never before seen a European, took him for a ghost, but consented to supply him with food.
The Masasi country belongs to a powerful branch of the Mukua nation, which farther south occupies such an extensive domain in the Mozambique region. The Yaos of the Nyassa highlands are also numerously represented in this part of the Rovuma basin. Here are also met some Wamueras (Wa-Muera), a feeble remnant 3ia SOUTH AND EAST AFBICA. of a formerly jjowerful tribe almost entirely exterminated by the Maviti. These Wunmeras were at one time very numerous, especially in the neighbourhood of the etmst near Kiloa. The Wangiudos or Wagindos (Wa-Ngindo, Wa-Gindo), who have replaced the Wamuems in the districts to the north and north-west of the terrace occupied bv the Makondos, are one of the many warlike tribes that have assumed the name of the Maviti. To keep up the fiction they have also adopted the dress, war-cry, weapons, and cu8ti»ras of tlioso formidable kinsmen of the Zulus. By some of their neighbours thoy are called Walihuhu (Wali-Huhu), a name formed in imitation of their battle cry. The Mahenges (Mu-IIenge), who dwell farther north in the Rutiji basin between L'ranga and Ruaha, also try to strike terror by the same <Io-ico, after having had themselves to tremble before thesfe fierce warriors. The Wanvakunyakos (Wa-Xyakanyaka) have been reduced by them to the condition uf sorls. The "Wazaramos. Tiie territory east of the Mahenges, in the Rufiji basin, belongs to the Wa- ndondos, or Wadondis (Wa-Ndonde, Wa-Dondi), who are conterminous with the Wazaramos (Wa-Zuramo) of the region comprised between the Rufiji, the lower Kingani, and the territory of the Swaheli, or " Coast People." The Wazaramos arc for the most part men of medium stature, but of rare physical strength. They are evidently of mixed origin, and present a corresponding variety of types. Some travellers have lx)en struck by the great number of albinos met in their country. Since the middle of the present century they have been frequently visited by Arab traders and Euroj>ean explorers; hence the accounts now received of their social usages differ greatly from those of the early observers. Through contact with the outer world their customs have been considerably modified, and they now wear the Arab dress, purchase arras, implements, and ornaments from the traders, and have discontinued many of their ferocious ances- tral practices. But in the more remote districts Wazaramos may still be seen whose features are slashed with deep gashes from ear to mouth, who wear no clothes except short skirts of foliage or grassy fibre, who by mixing clay with the hair build up head- dresses in the shape of a roof, and make use of poisoned arrows, which they keep in a carefully ornamented quiver. Cruel punishments for real or imaginary offences were by no means rare amongst the Wazaramos : they burnt the wizard with his wife and children, threw to the bush all infants whose teeth presented unydepartu'e from the normul disposition; at times twins shared the same fate, as well as all children bom on unpropitious days. Even those who had survived the dangers besetting their infancy were murdered if they ground their teeth in sleep, or had any other physical defect considered likely to bring misfortune on the family. On the other hand, the mother who lost her child through an accident or any illness, was held responsible for its death ; she was driven from the village, had to daub her face with clay, and silently to enduro the insults heaped upon her.
The Wazaramos do not practise circumcision, although they have in many other respects been subjected to the influence of the Mohammedans on the coust. Most of them speak Swaheli us well as their native language, and on gula days the chiefs wear the flowing robe, vest, and turban of the Arabs. The women aleo have adopted the Mussulman style of dress, but do not go veiled: The dwellings of the wealthy classes are palaces compared to the ordinary native huts, being small houses presenting almost a European aspect.
The Wakweres (Wa-Kwere), Wakami (Wa-Kami), and Wakhutus (WaKhutu),
who dwell farther west in tho hilly region about the headstreams of the Kingani, are closely related to, although fur less civilised than, the Wazaramos. They wear nothing but scanty bark clothes, and their habitations are rather dens of wild beasts than human abodes. In their country trials for witchcraft, followed by the inevitable punishment of the stake, are still terribly frequent. Much more civilized are their Wazeguha (Wa-Zeguha, Wa-Zegura) neighbours, who with-the kindred Wangurus (Wu-Nguru), inhabit the unproductive plains on the north side of the mountains traversed by the Lower Wami River. Nearly all these tribes have been converted to the Mohammedan religion through the influence of the contiguous Swaheli and Arab communities; the possession of firearms has also made them formidable slave-hunters. 314 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. The Wazeguhas are almost the only people in this region of East Africa who do not recognise the principle of inheritance in the transmission of the supreme authority. The succession deiMjnds rather on personal qualities, strength, courage, or wealth, and the consequence is that incessant warfare is carried on by the rival candidates for the position of tribal chief. Occasionally their neighbours become involved ia tho^e intertribal feuds, which at times lead to the extermination of whole communities. Thus the Wadoes (Wa-Doe), one of the local clans, has almost entirely disappeared during the ceaseless broils by which the land has been wasted, and fugitive members of this group have been scatteretl northwards as far as the neighbourhood of the equator. Their territory was generally avoided by travellers, because the Wadoes were -known to be cannibals. IJoth sexes disfigured themselves by two broad red scars, traced from near the temples down to the point of the chin. The two upper incisors were also extracted, and the national costume consisted of skins dyed yellow. At the death of a free man two slaves were buried alive in the same grave, a woman in order to prop his head during his last sleep, a man furnished with an axe in order to supply him with fuel in the cold, dark earth. The village chiefs try to make thoniselvos look more terrible by cutting their nails in the form of lions' claws, and avoid meeting each other on the highway, pretending that their glance must prove fatal to a rival in authority. Hence when they have to deliberate on matters of common interest, the meeting takes place in a hut divided into two or more compartments, one for each chief, and the discussion is then carried on over the partitions. The Wasagaras and "Wagogos. Tlie highland district lying between the seaboartl and the inland plateau is inhabited by the various Wasagara (Wa-Sagara) clans, some still as barbarous as the Wakhutu peoples, others already more or less civilized through their continuous intercourse with the Swaheli, the Arabs, and the European explorers. Their language, divided into several dialects, is one of the most widely diffused in the interior, being current in some communities as far as the neighbourhood of jSIombaz. The "Wasagaras are generally distinguished by a fuller growth of beard from all the surrounding populations. Some of their chief branches are the Wahehes (AVa-IIehe), in the southern basin of the Ruaha, and farther north, towards the frontiers of Masailand, the AVamegis (Wa-Megi), the Wakagurus (Wa-Kaguru). and the Wagejas (AVa-Geja). The distinctive sign of all these groups is the lower lobe of the ear, which, by the insertion of ornaments such iis wooden, metal, or horn discs, continually increasing in size, is gradually distended until at last it touches the shoulder. The cavity thus produced is often utilized for holding little bo^es, tobacco pouches, instruments, and other nicknacks. "While most of the tribes are bearded, the Wahehes, whose language closely resembles the Ki-Swaheli, have absolutely hairless faces. *'They have enslaved
the Wabenas (Wa-13ena), a peaceful nation who have become famous for their 
remarkable skill in carving and sharpening swords made of ebony. Their territory, a hilly j)lateau considerably over G,000 feet above sea-levol, is a rugged bleuk region swept by biting winds. The Wagogos (Wa-Gogo), who occupy the section of the plateau stretching as far us the watershed towards T'nyamezi, were formerly much dreaded as fierce nuuuuders. When the first Arab caravan made its appearance in their territory, Burton tells us that they were so surprised at the corpulence of the leader, that they took him for a god, and called upon him to bring down rain from heaven ; but their prayers not being immediately answered, they were about to murder the strange deity when an opportune shower intervened to save his life. Yet the Wagogos are now said to be the least superstitious of all the East African popula- tions. They have very few magicians amongst them, and even these have fallen into great discredit. Most explorers who have visited those communities have bfen struck by the small size of the skull compared with the broad features and the prominent ears, which are likened by Burton to the handles attached to two sides of a jug or pitcher. The lobe is pierced and distended as amongst their Wasagara neighbours. In this part of Africa ears enlarged in this way are a mark of freedom, slaves being forbidden cither to pierce the lobe or attach any ornament to this organ. Nearly all the Wagogos are amply clothed, even the children wearing a large robe. Their language is much harsher than that of the neigh- bouring tribes. It is generally spoken in a loud, aggressive voice, sometimes even with a certain brutality, the Wagogos being very proud of their numbers, and long accustomed to bully the timid traders visiting their country. The Waswaheli. But however powerful they may be, all the nations of the interior have alike yielded to the influence of the language spoken by these despised dealers. The Xi-Swaheli, thatis the language of the Waswaheli (Wa-Swaheli) or "Coast People," is daily becoming more widely diffused amongst all the native peoples in this part of the continent. Yet the tribes by whom this idiom is being propaguted far and v;ide are neither stronger nor more numerous than the others. On the contrary, they cannot be said even to constitute a distinct ethnical group at all, for the Waswa- heli are of most diverse origin, and have become intermingled with immigrants from all the neighbouring regions. What gives them a certain national unity apart from most other Bantu populations is the Mohammedan religion, which they have adopted and profess with more or less zeal. The Arab element also has greatly contributed to modify their usages, and transform the agricultural communities into groups of active traders. Ki-Swaheli is spoken in its greatest purity in the districts north of Mombaz and Malindi, where the dialect known by the name of Ki-Ngozi has preserved its archaic forms, and is consequently used by poets in preference to all others. As it gradually spread southwards along the coastlands and adjacent islands as far as Mozajnbique, the current speech became more and more affected by Indian, 816 SOFIH AND EAST AFRICA. Persian, Portuguese, and especially Arabic elements. Notably in Zanzibar it has been extensively Arabised, and here all abstract terms are of Semitic origin. Nevertheless the ]iantu substratum has been preserved, and the grammatical structure has remained purely African. From the seaports, centres of commercial life for the wholo of East Africa, Ki-Swaheli has been disseminated throughout the regions of the interior, and like the Bunda language of Angola and neighbour- ing lands, like the Se-Suto of the Basuto people between the Drakcnberg and the Zunjbese, it has become a general medium of intercourse which in some places is already supplanting the local dialects altogether. Although spoken as their mother-tongue by probably not more than a million persons, Ki-Swaheli seems entitled to rank as " one of the twelve most important languages of the world with reference to the vast area over which it is a limjua franca, its position as a leading 1 mguage amidst a host of uncultivated congeners, and its power to assimilate alien elements, especially the Arabic, which has done for it what it has already done for the Turkish, Persian, Urdu, Hausa, and Malay" (Gust). Cameron tells us that during his journey from east to west across the continent, he met in every tribe of the interior one or more persons conversant with this language of the east coast. It was by comparing a number of Ki-Swaheli words with the corresponding terms in the AVest African and Kafrarian dialects that so early as 1808 Lichtenstein was ahle to advance the hypothesis of the fundamental unity of the Bantu peoples from Algoa Bay to Mombaz on the east and the Gaboon on the west coast. This hy[X)thcsis has since been amply confirmed, so far at least as regards the unity of the linguistic family spread over this vast area of many millions of square miles. Ki-Swaheli possesses a relatively copious literature. It comprises, like so muny other Negro dialects, translations of the Bible and of various religious treatises, as well as collections of proverbs, legends, poems, in the publication of which the natives themselves, as well as the missionaries, take an active part. The Arabic alphabet, till recently almost exclusively employed, has now been generally replaced by the Roman characters, which are much more suitable for expressing the sounds of all Bantu languages. But authors have not yet come to an under- standing as to the best dialect to bo definitively adopted as the common literary standard. The preference, however, will most probably be ultimately given to the Unguya, that is, the form current in the island of Zanzibar. Topography. The gradual assimilation of the inland populations to those of the seaboard in all social respects is being steadily effected, not by military expeditions, but by the development of trade and peaceful intercourse. Various centres of population, most of which, however, contain scarcely more than two or three hundred huts, follow successively along the commercial highways leading from the maritime porta to those that have already sprung up on the shores of the great lakes. But many favourably situated harbours are still almost entirely cut off from all communi- cation with the interior by incessant intertribal feuds and slave-hunting expeditions, or else their only commerce consists in that of the captives obtained during these marauding incursions; for the seaports comprised between the Rovuma and Rufiji estuaries still serve for the export trade in human flesh, notwithstanding the vigilance of the British cruisers.
Mikindani, one of the first of these ports occurring to the north of the Rovuma, presents an excellent anchorage, where shipping might find good shelter. But it is little frequented, and the movement of exchanges is entirely in the hands of Hindu traders, who take gum copal, ivory, and rice in exchange for textile fabrics, glass beads, and arms. Lindi, lying more to the north-west, on a bay where the
Ukeredi River reaches the coast, is a thriving little seaport of about two thousand inhabitants. Here the staple export is caoutchouc, the trade in which is shared between the Banyans and Arabs. The forest where the caoutchouc-yielding lianas twine like coiling snakes round the stems and branches, occupies a strip of the seaboard with a mean breadth of from 18 to 20 miles. A rock near the extremity of the estuary is crowned with the ruins of an old Portuguese stronghold.
The valley of the Ukeredi leads inland to the Masasi district, where the English missionaries have founded an important station, which has become a centre of acclimatisation for European plants in the Makua and Makonde territories. The Yaos, who are a much-travelled people, and who therefore regard themselves as much superior to the simple: stay-at-home Makuas, have also numerous . settlements in this country. The missionary village has been built on a small northern affluent of the Rovuma in an extremely fertile clearance encircled by forest-clad_ hills. This Masasi station, standing at an elevation of about 1,800 feet above the sea, is one of the most salubrious places in all Africa, at least for the
European constitution, Chauncy Maples considers that a line drawn from Lindi through Masasi towards the upper Rovuma would indicate the very best route between this coast and Lake Nyassa.
Kiloa and Dar-es-Salaam.
penetrates some 12 miles north-westwards into the interior, presenting in many places a perfectly safe anchorage in deep water. Nevertheless this splendid harbour, although frequented in the tenth century by the Persians of Shiraz, is now but little utilised, its importance having been greatly diminished since the fifteenth century. At that time a flourishing citj', the Qiiilon (Ki/oa) of the Portuguese*, was the residence of the Zonj sultans, who ruled over the whole sea- board from Cape Delgado to Mombaz. During the first half of the fourteenth century Ibn-Batuta, the famous Arab geographer and traveller, visited this great em|)<)rium, which he called Kulua, and which was governed by a ^[u.<^sulman prince by him described as a person of perfect generosity towards the faquirs (religious mendicants) and a pious observer of the holy war against the Infidel. At one time Kiloa was said to have as many as three hundred mosques. Fran- cisco d'Almcida's fleet captured the place after a destructive siege in the year 1505, but the conquerors were soon decimated by fever, and this seaport was gradually abandoned by shippers. In the seventeenth century it fell, with the rest of this seaboard, into the hands of the Imam of Mascat. At present it belongs to the Sultan of Zanzibar, but since the suppression of the export trade in slaves the traffic of Kiloa has become insignificant. A few Hindu and Arab traders are settled in the little village of Kiloa-Kisiiraiii, that is, " Insular Kiloa," which stands on the island of Kiloa beneath the walls of an old citadel and the crumbling remains of some crenellated ramparts. At present the chief stream of traffic has been deflected some 18 miles to the north-west, towards the far less convenient harbour of Kiloa-Kivinje, or "Conti- nental Kiloa/' whose little houses and hovels, interspersed with ruins, are grouped in the shade of the surrounding cocoanut groves. But the marshy tracts run- ning parallel with the seashore have hitherto prevented the construction of a road to the interior. Yet Kiloa-Kivinje, which has a population of about three thousand, was, till recently, the chief port on this coast for the exportation of slaves, and although the traffic is legally abolished and supposed to be suppressed, the Arab dhows still occasionalh' secure a cargo of living freight from the surrounding creeks. The routes followed by the dealers in ivory between Kiloa and Lake Nyassa are still very dangerous, for they traverse the territories of the Wangindos, Wanindis, and Magwangwaras, all of whom are marauding tribes who hold in little account the lives of their visitors. North of Kiloa a safer route runs along the coast, crossing the Rufiji at the head of the deltA. In the year 18b0 Beardall saw no less than twenty-seven large boats employed in the transport of the convoys to the village of Nya-NtumbOy which at that time marked the site of the ferry. Another important station on the banks of the Rufiji is Korogero, which lies below the fluvial cataracts and gorges at the converging point of the trade routes from Kiloa, Dar-es-Salaam, and the intermediate seaports. But this important centre of the local traffic is exposed to the incursions of the "NVamahengis, who pay periodical visits to the district, burning the villages and carrying off the inhabitants into slavery. To avoid these raiders the natives, after gathering in their crops, take refuge in the islands of the river, where they are protected by the crocodiles infesting these waters. Dar-es-Salaam, lying north of the Rufiji, is the port which the Sultan of Zanzibar has selected as the chief mainland station of his fleet. Its Arab name means
"House" or "Abode of Peace," but this appears to be merely a popular etymology of the Ki-Swaheli Dari-Salama, which is its true name, and which has the sense of "Safe Roof." The harbour, which is one of the best on the whole seaboard, can be reached only through a long channel winding between coral reefs. The inner basin communicating through this channel with the sea penetrates nearly five miles farther inland, and offers to shipping an available space several square miles in superficial extent. However fiercely the storm may rage beyond the channel, the waters of this landlocked haven always remain unruffled. The town and the neighbouring populous village of Mjimwema are built on an upheaved cliff, which was formerly a coral reef commanding the old marine channel now converted into an estuary.
The German officials stationed at Dar-es-Salaam are endeavouring to attract to
Fig. 97. — Dar-es-salaam.
this port a portion of the import trade which was till recently entirely centred in the roadstead of Zanzibar, and their efforts have already been attended with a certain measure of success. North of Lourenço Marques, Dar-es-Salaam is the only place on the East African seaboard where a beginning hus been made with the construction of a carriage road leading towards the interior of the continent. This great highway, which it is already proposed to convert into a railway, first traverses 822 SOUTH AND EAST APEICA, the zone of lowlands often inundated during the rainy season, and then cKmbs the hills to its culminating point at the village of Kola, about 30 miles west of Dar- es-Salaam. At Kola, where it descends westwards in the direction of the Kingani Valley, two routes will branch off, one running to Lake Tanganyika, the other to Nj'assa. The former, keeping more to the west, will traverse the mountains and valleys of Usagara and Ugogo, and so on probably through Taboro to ITjiji, while the latter, bending to the south-west, will cross the rolling plains of Uzaramo, the Rufiji gorges, and the Luwego Valley. Although still far from perfect, the Dar- es-Salaam road is already utilised for a considerable local traffic, and the riverain planters so highly appreciate its advantages that they have constructed several branches to connect the more remote villages with the main highway. Bagamoyo. North-west of Dar-es-Salaam follows Bagamoyo, which, however, unlike it, possesses no natural haven. It stands on an open beach which slopes gently down to the water's edge and then shoals so gradually that the shipping has to ride at anchor about two miles off the coast. But this point of the bay, whose name of Baga-Moyo, or " Bottom of the Heart," indicates its central position on the con- cave curve of the shore, enjoys the advantage of standing exactly opposite the city of Zanzibar, about 26 miles distant. It thus occupies the most convenient point on the coast for the traffic between the capital and the mainland. Bagamoyo also lies only a few miles to the south of the Rufu or Kingani estuary, and thus com- mands the entrance to a thickly peopled fluvial valley, which descends from the Usagara uplands, strategical centre of the whole country. Thanks to these favourable conditions, Bagamoyo has already become a large African town, with a population of as many as ten thousand during the season for engaging porters to join the caravans which are here equipped for the interior. Like Zanzibar and other Arab towns, it has its bazaar, and several of its buildings have been constructed in the European style. But the surrounding district is low and insalubrious, the streets and open spaces are encumbered with refuse of all sorts ; on the beach are left rotting in the sun the remains of the fish which forms the staple food of the "Warimas (Wa-Rima), or coast people; lastly the place is occasionally visited by fierce cyclones, which uproot the trees and sweep away the native dwellings. The Arabs are relatively less numerous in Bagamoyo than in the neighbouring island of Zanzibar ; but on the other hand the Hindus of various castes have here formed a powerful colony, which has monopolised nearly all the local trade, and disposes of the Wanyamezi porters to the caravans on its own terms. The place has a garrison of Baluchi troops, who mount guard before the governor's palace, lying in the midst of shady gardens some two miles farther south. To the north of Bagamoyo rise the numerous structures connected with the Catholic mission, head centre of all the other missionary stations throughout East Africa. Here nearly six hundred children, purchased for the most part from the slave-dealers, are taught various trades, and cultivate the surrounding orchards and gardens of acclimatisation. Even after they have become adults they remain under "the firm and wise tutelage" of the fathers, and continue to work five days in the week for the benefit of the community. The cocoanut grove surrounding the mission,
and containing about a hundred and sixty thousand plants, yields sufficient produce to supply all the wants of the colony.
Saadani, lying some 30 miles farther north, occupies a position somewhat analogous to that of Bagamoyo. Like this place, it is situated on the strait of Zanzibar, over against the island, and in the immediate vicinity of an estuary, that of the river Wami. But the roadstead is much less frequented, the local population scarcely exceeds two thousand, and here are organised few caravans for the 824 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. interior, except those of EngUsh traveUers, favoured by the British mission stationed in this place. The Caravan Trade. The whole of the commercial movement between the coast, Lake Tanganyika, and Unyamezi, is carried on by means of the so-called pngazi, or porters, each of whom balances on his heud a load averaging about sixty pounds weight. Most of the men engaged in the seaboard towns come from Unyamezi or Usukura, and although nominally free, these men are in reality the slaves of the Arab and Hindu traders, who get them into their power by payments of wages in advance, charging such heavy interest on the money that their victims are never able to clear off the debt. The a/^hari, or soldiers who act as escorts to the convoy, and also usually carry half a load, are equally in the hands of the Dar-es-Salaam and Bagamoyo traders, who in fact ultimately receive nearly all the profits on every expedition equipped for the purchase of ivory. The caravans, composed generally of several hundred, at times even several thousand persons, march like armed forces through the land. They are under the command of a kirongozi, or captain, and are again divided into a number of brigades, each under a separate tiyampara, or major. The order of march is planned beforehand each day ; the main body is preceded by a van-guard and followed by a rear-guard, while the flanks are protected by scouts and others engaged to clear the way and collect fodder. A special place is also assigned to the women and children in the convoy and in the camping-ground. In the Mgunda Mkhali solitudes the scrub is traversed by three parallel tracts about 65 feet apart. In the middle track walk the women, the children, and the porters bending under their heavy burdens, while the two side paths are taken by the lightly loaded pagazi and the armed men. The caravans have now, however, seldom to defend themselves from direct attack, but have rather to fear lest a solitude be made in front of them, and that they may in this way be cut off from all supplies. A source of trouble are also the exactions of the kinglets or tribal chiefs, who under one pretext or another levy a sort of blackmail, the so-called hougo, or road-tax, the amount of which may at times be arbitrarily increased. Provision has' also to be made against fever, epidemics, inundations, droughts, and the thousand other accidents by " flood or field" incidental to such long expeditions. Thanks to the experience already acquired by explorers since the first journeys of Burton, Livingstone, Stanley, and other pioneers, the time occupied by the trip between Bagamoyo and the shores of Tanganyika has been diminished by three- fourths. This space of about 600 miles may now be got ovor in six weeks or so, bit all attempts have hitherto failed to replace the porters along this route either by pack animals or wheeled traffic. Horses cannot be employed, because within a ten days' march of the coast begin the regions infested by the tsetse fly. The ass resists better, but this animal at last yields to the poisoned sting of this insect. Essays have also been made with pack oxen, while Roger Price* has tried THE CAEAVAN TRADE. 826 to forward goods by the long teams of cuttle employed by tbe traders in South Africa. I5ut all these experiments have ended in disappointment, and the Usagara highlanders are now the heirs of the useless waggons abandoned by the wayside near Kondoa {Mkondoti), the station founded in the year 1881 by the French commission of the " African Association." In 1879 it was hoped that the problem of transport had been solved by intro- ducing from India four well- trained elephants. The intelligent and docile animals did in fact accomplish one-third of the journey without accident ; between Dur-es-Salaam and Mpwapwa they surmounted all obstacles of mountain, swamp, and river, their only food leing herbs and foliage. Nor did they appear to be much the worse after an exposure of twenty- three days to the bite of the tsetse pest. It was supposed that the experiment had succeeded, when suddenly one of the four died, without any apparent cause. Soon after, all the other elephants perished in the same way, whether through change of food or of climate, or possibly worn out by the hardships of the route, for along these rugged mountain tracks they had been laden with burdens of sixteen hundred or eighteen hundred pounds weight. Since then the costly experiment has not been renewed, and it is now proposed to settle the question of transport by constructing a railway, which as it gradually penetrates into the interior may enable the traders to dis- pense with porters and pack animals alike. Along the highways of commerce leading from the coast to Tabora there are no towns properly so called. Even the villages are frequently displaced, and . many capitals of petty states visited by the early explorers are now nothing more than a heap of ruins. The wayside caravanserais most usually selected for revictualling the convoys are the stations of the missionaries, such as Mamhoya and Mpiraj)wa, both situated to the west of the highlands, on a plateau where the headwaters of the Wami take their rise, and where the alimentary plants of Europe thrive to perfection. They stand nearly about midway between Bagamoyo and Tabora, and immediately beyond them begins the wilderness of brushwood, acacias, and gum-yielding plants, which the wayfarer hastens to traverse as rapidly as possible in order to reach the TTgogo villages, themselves scattered amongst the bush. Bounded on the east by the Marenga Mkhali region, as the wilderness is called, Ugogo stretches westwards to the verge of another solitude known as the Mgunda Mkhali, or " Land of Fire." This inhospitable tract, which it formerly required fifteen days to traverse, but which has gradually been somewhat reduced by clearing and cultivating the ground, is an open plain covered with scrub, where the traveller plods for hours together without noticing the least change in the dreary landscape — everywhere a stunted brushwood, and rolled shingle brought down by now dried-up torrents. In some districts of the Land of Fire, masses of granite or of syenite stand out amid the scrub, some rounded and hummocky, others presenting the outlines of towers, smooth or fissured, isolated or grouped together in hundreds, disposed in avenues, forming huge gateways, or piled in terraces one above the other. The chief resting-place in the midst of this wilderness is the village of Jue-la-Mkoa, or the "Round Hlill," 0 called from the syenite eminence over 120 feet high, at the foot of which are clustered a few native cabins.
Zanzibar and Mafia.
The island of Zanzibar, centre of the commercial activity and of the religious propaganda radiating from the seaboard towards the interior of East Africa, is of itself of very small extent. But by its geological formation it is connected with ISLAND OF MAFIA. 827 two other islands also lying at a short distance from the mainland, and also resting on rocky coralline reefs. Mufia, Zanzibar, and Pcmba, are either the remains, or possibly the first foundation stones, as it were, of a future continent, developing beyond the inner an outer coastline almost everywhere presenting precipitous buttresses to the fury of the breakers rolling in from the deep. All three islands are disposed exactly in the same direction as the coast of the opposite mainland. Thus the axis of Mafia is inclined from south-west to north-east, like the neiglibouring shore between the Rovuma delta and the ras or headland of Mwamba Mku. Zanzibar in the same way runs south-east and north-west, parallel with the seaboard between Dar-es-Salaam and Saadani, while Pemba, like the con- tiguous continental shore-line, follows the direction from north to south, with a slight inclination towards the east. The great oceanic depths do not begin till some distance off the windward side of the islands. On the west or landward side the reefs are very nimierous, some strewn over the bed of the sea, and at low water resembling the reinains of another " Giant's Causeway," some always awash or completely flooded, and endangering the navigation along the line of tortuous channels open to shipping. The most dreaded section of these waters lies between the island of Mafia and the Rufiji delta, where the turbid fluvial stream spreading over the surface of the heavier marine layers prevents the pilots from seeing the submerged reefs and shoals. Hence skippers never attempt to venture through this passage at night, and most vessels avoid it altogether by keeping on the east side of the island in the deep s aters of the open sea. The Zanzibar channel is broader and deeper than that of Mafia ; nevertheless at one point it is contracted to a space of little over three miles, or about one-fifth of the whole distance from shore to shore. In mid-channel vessels ride at anchor in some 20 or 22 fathoms of water. Mafia, called also Monfia, southernmost of the three islands, is also the smallest in extent, as well as the least important in population and natural resources. The original coral reef, about 200 square miles in superficial area, is now almost completely covered with a layer of fertile soil supporting a large number of cocoanut palms. The island is continued southwards by an extensive reef strewn with upheaved rocks, on one of which stands the village of Chohe, capital of Mafia, and residence of the governor and of a few Arab and Hindu traders. The surrounding district is well cultivated but does not yield sufficient produce to support any considerable export trade. In any case the creek on which Chobe stands is scarcely accessible at low water, so that shipping has to anchor j«t a distance of 9 miles to the south-west of the island. Zanzibar, the native name of which is Unguya, or the " Station," is the only land in East Africa whose usual designation still recalls the ancient Zcnj people described by the mediaeval Arab writers as inhabiting the section of the seaboard which stretched south of Somaliland towards the unknown southern waters. The expression " Zanguebar coast," till recently applied to the coastlands comprised between Mombaz and Eiloa, and now transferred under a corrupt form to the adjacent island of Unguya, simply means "Zenj Coast." Thus Zang-bar or Zanj-bar, corresponding to Hindu-bar, or "Coast of the Hindus," on the east side of the Indian Ocean, indicated the whole seaboard skirting the west side of the same marine basin. Hence also the Arabs called this strip of coastlands Bilad-ez-Zenj, that is, the "Land of the Zenj people." Marco Polo probably refers to this
rather to expand, as we see in such instances as Africa, originally a small part of Mauritania ; Asia, at first a little district on the Ionian coast ; Borneo [Brunei), a town on the west side of the great island to which it now gives its name. ^Uthough resting on a coralline foundation, the island of Zanzibar is not exclusively composed of these organic remains. It also presents a few hills formed of a reddish and ferruginous clay, which rise in gentle undulations above the surrounding plain, and which in many places are furrowed by the running waters and carved into columnar formations of surprising regularity. In the southern part of the island the highest eminences do not exceed 450 feet, but on the north-west coast a chain of hills running parallel with the shore attains an eIev((tion of 1,000 feet, culminating point of the island. Nearly the whole surface of Zanzibar has been brought under cultivation; hence the population is relatively dense, considerably exceeding two hundred thousand souls in a superBcial area of not more than 650 square miles. The island is thus proportionately more thickly peopled than France, and during the north-east monsoon the settled population is said to be increased by over thirty thousand strangers from Arabia, the Comoro Islands, India, and Persia. Flora and Fauna of Zanzibar. The insular flora is the same as that of the adjacent mainland. A few orchids and one or two ferns appear to be the only indigenous species, or at least the only varieties that have not yet been discovered on the opposite seaboard. The fertile soil of the island yields in abundance all the fruits of tropical lands, American species here intermingling with those of the eastern archipelago. Two crops of corn are raised in the twelvemonth, and four of manioc, which forms the staple food of the inhabitants. Of palms the prevailing species is the cocoonut, which covers extensive tracts and supplies the natives with food, drink, timber, cordage, oil for exportation and for making soap. The date-palm also grows in the island, but its fruit is inferior to that obtained from the oases of the Sahara. Magnificent mangoes, whose fruit has a flavour of strawberries and cream, are extensively cultivated, while the gunva, the orange, the lime, and bread-tree interlace their foliage with the mangosteen and durian {ditrio zibethinus^, introduced from the Sunda Islands, whose fruit, after giving a smack of onions and mitey chet se, is said to be alto- gether unrivalled for its exquisite flavour. Zanzibar also produces the spices of India and Malaysia — cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and, especially since 1830, cloves, the yearly crop of which already exceeds many millions of pounds weight. The tremendous hurricane of 1872 almost entirely destroyed the clove and cocoanut plantations, uprooting four- fifths of these plants, and for a time ruining the island. Being a natural dependency of the African mainland, of which it probably formed part at some former geological epoch, Zanzibar has an exclusively continental fauna. But the animals are not numerous, most of the species having either become extinct in this confined space, or been exterminated by the peasantry. 880 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. About the year 1865 a hippopotamus swam across the intervening marine channel, and was seen for several months disporting himself in the shallow waters along the shore ; but there is no record of either the elephant or the rhinoceros having ever visited the island in this way. Most of the local quadrupeds are of small size, as, for instance, the dwarf antelope {nanotragus), the ofolicnus, a half-monkey or lemuroid, the civet, a few felines, such as the serval and wild cat, but no hyaenas. Rats, including some from Europe, have been introduced by the shipping. The avifauna is represented by a large number of species, the marine channel not being broad enough to arrest the flight of ordinary birds. The local guinea- fowl, by some supposed to be a distinct variety, is probably identical with the continental species. Nevertheless naturalists have discovered a few animals, amongst others a lemur and a lizard, which really appear to be quite peculiar to the island. Till recently Zanzibar, in common with the neighbouring Pemba, possessed a very beautiful monkey, the colobus Kirkii ; but when first noticed by naturalists it had already become extremely rare, and according to the statement of Johnston, has since entirelj' disappeared, the few surviving specimens having unfortunately been killed by the hunters whom Sir John Kirk had sent either to capture or to report on its existence.* • Inhabitants of Zanzibar. On the east side of Zanzibar there still survive a few groups of aborigines, who have hitherto kept aloof from all the intruding peoples. These are the Waha- dimus (Wa-IIadimu), who have become Mohammedans, and whose Bantu dialect has become in a more or less modified form the current speech of the whole island, as well as the commercial language of a large part of East Central Africa. The bulk of the people consist of Negroes, some free, but for the most part descended from slaves introduced at various times from various parts of the continent. These different elements have at last been fused in a single almost homogeneous population enjoying uniformity of speech, religion and social institutions. The practice of eating an argillaceous clay, common to so many African and other peoples, is very prevalent amongst them. The Arabs, who are politically the dominant race, are also the landed pro- prietors, several residing like great lords on their plantations. Some of these Arabs have retained their purity of blood, and consequently look with supreme contempt on their sovereign, who is of mixed descent. They share with the Europeans, Americans, " Canarians " or Portuguese of Goa, and Hindus, the whole- sale trade of the island, which consists chiefly in ivory, caoutchouc, copal, orchilla, and skins, brought from the opposite coast and here shipped in exchange for such imports as dates and European wares, notably the so-called amerlkani, that is, bales of cotton, which serve as a kind of currency in all transactions with the native populations of the interior. In the island itself the Indian rupee is the legal tender. • The Kilima-Njaro Expedition, p. 38. * The Americans were the first Western nation who made a treaty of commerce with Zanzibar, in 1835, and, thanks to the privileges then secured, their trade with the island has long surpassed that of the other foreign nations. Most of the Europeans living in Zanzibar are either speculators or connected with the shipping.
As traders they find it difficult to compete with their Eastern rivals for the general traffic with India and the neighbouring continent. A number of political agents also find their way to Zanzibar, in connection with the international rivalries of the European powers. Since the year 1873 the local merchants are forbidden to take any part in the slave-trade. but before that time 882 SOUTH AND EAST AFKICA. from twelve thousand to fifteen thousand Negroes were annually exported from this place to the coast-towns of Arabia and the Persian Gulf. The immigrants from India include Parsees, Hindi Shiah Mohammedans, Khojas, and Bhoras, from Bombay and Surat, who are accompanied by their wives ; lastly, the ubiquitous Banyans. These last, who occupy a separate quarter of the capital, and who are also met in the seaports along the opposite coast, come almost exclusively from the peninsula of Cutch, where reside their employers and associates. They never bring their families with them, and are consequently always eager to return to their homes, where they can freely observe all the usages and religious rites of their native land. They yearly send to India the earnings of their trade, keeping nothing for themselves except the capital required to conduct their business transactions. Being extremely conscientious, they scrupulously observe all the practices handed down by religious tradition. They shave the head and beard, leaving only the moustache, the whiskers, and a little tuft of hair on the forehead. They wear a red turban and one or two lengths of cotton gracefully folded round the body. They are excessively frugal, restricting themselves entirely to a vegetarian diet of breadstuffs, milk, butter, cheese, fruits, and vegetables. All that has lived an animal life — beasts of the field, birds of the air, or fish — is absolutely prohibited. In order to be sure that no impure ingredients get mixed with their food, they send to India for their cooking butter, and themselves prepare the meal. Were a stranger but to touch their rice or wheat-meal, all would be polluted and thrown aside. The eatables are served on fresh broad leaves, and the water drawn from the spring or cistern in their own vessels, unsullied by the contact of a profane hand. The cow is their sucred animal, and on feast days for her is prepared a choice banquet of potatoes and maize. They never fail to burn their dead on the beach, a rite attended with much ceremony. First of all the skull is riveted with large nails, to prevent it from bursting with the heat ; then the body is stretched on a funeral pyre com- posed of as many blocks of wood as there are Banyans present to honour the dead. After cremation, the ashes are cast to the winds. Customs so entirely opposed to those of the Arabs and Swaheli, expose the Banyans to the jeers and laughter of their neighbours ; but they endure all uncomplainingly. But these mijd and resigned devotees quietly revenge them- selves by growing rich at the expense of the scoffers. Unlike the Arabs, however, they take no part in the slave-trade. It is always a good sign when the Banyans are observed to increase in numbers, and the Arabs to diminish, in the seaports along the coast. In the island itself the sale of Negroes is forbidden, but the slaves have not been emancipated, and the children still follow the social condition of their mother. The families of these captives are said generally speaking to be far from numerous. ISLAND OF PEMBA. 888 Topography. The city of Zanzibar, which lies near the middle of the west coast, to the north-cast of Bagaraoyo, its outlet on the mainland, is the largest place on the whole seaboard of East Africa washed by the Indian Ocean, and even on the whole periphery of the continent except Alexandria, Tunis, and perhaps Algiers. Seen from the water it presents a pleasant aspect, thanks to the bright look of ita huge white houses, barracks, and forts, with their massive round towers. But all this glittering frontage serves only to mask a dense mass of hovels, amid which wind the narrow, filthy streets. A recently constructed aqueduct, however, now supplies the place with pure water, to the great improvement of its health and cleanliness. Hence Zanzibar is no longer such a dangerous residence as formerly. A saline lagoon, dry at low water and crossed by two bridges, separates Shaugnni, or the city properly so-called, from its eastern suburb, inhabited by the Swaheli, the slaves, and fishmongers. At the entrance of this lagoon arc generally moored the Arab dhows, while the large ocean steamers, packets, and men-of-war, ride at anchor off the town in six or seven fathoms of water. Several lines of steam packets call regularly at Zanzibar, thus keeping up the communications with the coast towns, the Suez Canal, India, Mauritius, Reunion, and Madagascar. The Sultan himself owtis about a dozen trading vessels, besides a man-of-war. At present the total annual trade exceeds a million sterling, while the shipping entered and cleared represents a total capacity of about two hundred and ten thou- sand tons. Zanzibar already commands many of the conveniences of the great European seaports, including repairing appliances, an apparatus for distilling salt water, and electric harbour lights. The Protestant and Catholic religious establishments are supplemented by some large schools for both sexes, and even some workshops for instructing the natives in the mechanical arts. In some other parts of the island, where the wealthy Arab landowners have several fine country seats, a number of factories have sprung up for the extraction of sugar and cocoanut oil. One of the most important of these mills is that of Kokofoni, situated on the harbour of like name, some 24 miles to the north of Zanzibar. This inlet, which is perfectly sheltered by an island off the entrance, is accessible to large vessels, which can here anchor in depths of from four to eight fathoms of water. Pemba. Pemba, third member of this insular group, has a superficial area of about 380 square miles. But although it is thus fully two-thirds the size of Zanzibar, its population scarcely exceeds ten thousand souls. Yet the soil is everywhere fertile to the summits of the cliffs, and it often takes the name of the " Green," or the " Vegetable Island," from its rich and productive vegetation. Its products are the same as those of Zanzibar, including both cloves ard the cocoanut, which the great Arab landed proprietors export to the markets of the neighbouring city.
Shaki-Shaki, capital of Pemba, lics on the west side, near the head of a creek inaccessible to shipping at low water. Fig. 102. — Pemba.
Even small craft have to wait for the flow before venturing to penetrate up the inlet. On the other hand the port of Kishi-Kashi, towards the north-west extremity of the island, is deep enough to accommodate large vessels, which might here ride at anchor in perfect safety. But the narrow and dangerous channel through which it communicates with the sea has not yet been buoyed. The head of the Arab aristocracy in Pemba, a vassal rather than a subject of the Sultan of Zanzibar, has his residence at Kishi-Kashi. More than half of the inhabitants of this island are still in a state of slavery.
Administration.
As now regulated by the conditions of the German protectorate, the authority of the Seïd or Sultan of Zanzibar is almost entirely restricted to the islands. Recently the narrow strip of territory about eleven miles broad skirting the continental seaboard between the Rovuma estuary and Somaliland, was also placed under his jurisdiction. But even in
this contracted zone there are many places where his authority is not recognised, while his rule is reduced to a diplomatic fiction by the assignment of the Dar-es-Salaam and Pangani custom-houses to a board of foreign traders presided over by the great chancellor of the Germanic Empire.
Tn the large villages along the coast of the mainland the Sultan of Zanzibar is represented either by walis, or by jemadars, nearly all full-blood or half-caste ADMINISTRATION OF ZANZIBAB. 386 Arabs, who collect the taxes and keep watch over the traders to prevent the traffic in slaves, now legally suppressed. At least this is one of the functions assigned to these officials by the terms of the treaties concluded with the English before the recent changes. But the German commissioners have practically abrogated those treaties and have hitherto left the slave-dealers full freedom of action.* The sultan's army, imder the command of a European, consists of about three thousand well- disciplined men, either Swaheli or natives of the Comoro Islands. Formerly the army was recruited chiefly amongst the Beluchis of Beluchistan.
- DetttMcne EoloniaUZeitung, October let, 1887.