Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

84 DHOW-CHASING.
incredible as it may appear, out of our complement
of 320 men, from which must be
deducted about 50 attached to the "Dart,"
her tender, we had 113 on the " sick-list,"
chiefly with diarrhoea and dysentery, from which
we lost several men.
But Commodore Wyvill was most energetic
and indefatigable in his efforts to what is called
*' strike a blow" at the slave-trade, the estimate
of which expression has been judged rather by
what might be expected from such a vast expenditure
of lives and money than by the extent
of the trade itself; but, on my part, I confess
that it reminds me of my early school-days,
when I have heard a tiny urchin informed indignantly
by some one who wishes to get up
a fight that another boy had hit him. " Did
he?" says the astonished youngster, as if he
was not aware of it; "just let him do it once
more." However, no efforts were spared with
the means at his disposal, and, notwithstanding
the serious condition, physically, of the crew, he
would, I believe, have remained much longer
on the coast if there had been any reason to