Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

THE CRUISE OP TPIE " DAPHNE." 135
It was not, therefore, till
after this date that
we proceeded to cruise for the suppression of
the slave-trade on the coast of Africa.
We arrived at Aden, from Annesley Bay, on
the 21st June, and sailed thence to Seychelles
on the 18tli July, and, after experiencing the
south-west monsoon in all
its strength, reached
Mahe with the loss of our main-yard.
Here, fortunately, we found anchored the
" Octavia," Commodore Heath, as there is
neither dockyard nor stores of any kind on the
island for our cruisers, though it is admirably
situated for keeping a supply for the- ships,
which generally come to this island to refit,
and. also for giving the men leave, it being the
only place on the coast where it is safe to do
so ; for it is an exceedingly healthy island, which
cannot be said of any part of the coast or the
islands near to it, unless it is the Commoro
Island, "Johanna," but there the filth and
consequent diseases
among the natives render
it
dangerous to give leave to crews.
Mahe, the largest of the Seychelles group,
is the healthiest spot of the East Coast, as