Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

THE CRUISE OP THE " DAPHNE." 147
claim as sucli, and of what tliey are really able to
hold possession of, and also of the very extensive
slave-trade carried on there.
From Mozambique harbour we proceeded to
Zanzibar, examining on our way the Kiswara
Eiver.
On the morning after our arrival at this river,
accompanied by Dr. Mortimer, I pulled some
miles up to explore it, and to land for the purpose
of getting some shooting. We landed at
a point on the left bank, about three miles from
the mouth, and walked into the interior; the
country presented a picturesque scene of fertile
undulating plains and wooded knolls, with
gradually rising hills or slopes towards the
interior; proceeding about two miles to the
N.E. we found ourselves on the crest of a slope,
at the foot of which lay a valley that only
lacked cultivation to make it equal to any
scenery in England.
No wonder the land was
uncultivated, for who would remain there to
till it in the vicinity of that curse of the country,
the slave-dealer, who while he can get a
profit by seizing and selling those who alone