Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

THE CUUISE OF THE "PANTALOON." 101
most abominable hole in existence, and which
has not inaptly been likened to certain regions
that shall be nameless " with the fire just gone
out." It is a black lava mountain, with not a
green spot to be seen ; the thermometer seldom
stands below 90°, and generally at 100° at night
as well as by day, and this temperature is
usually intensified on shore by the addition of
the reflected heat fi^om the dark lava rocks with
which you are surrounded. Only five weeks
before I had driven fifteen miles with snow on
the ground !
As we steamed down the Gulf the
thermometer fell to 85°. Oh, what a relief!
and on rounding Cape Guardafui we felt the full
force of the south-west monsoon, which we
did not get entirely clear of for about fourteen
In the Gulf of Aden we passed several dhows,
the sight of which, with their huge sails, lofty
sterns, and low bows, gives them the appearance
of some great sea-monster in the act of
diving. Or still more do they resemble a vessel
going down by the bows ; they recalled much
of those boat-cruising days long ago, and of