Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

226 DHOW-OHASING.
as they do tlie Portuguese; at any rate, supposing
we are rebels, we have a right to be
acknowledged as belligerents, and you see that
we have actual possession of the country and
always have had it. It is the Portuguese who
carry on the slave-trade ; we are ready, if recognized,
to enter into treaties with the English
for its aboHtion, but while other trades are
cut off from us we are compelled to
accept that
which is forced upon us."
On the mainland, eight miles
from the island
of Mozambique, is
the Arab port of Conducia,
into which the Portuguese can only enter to
trade. This is the principal Arab town on
the coast south of Quiloa; it is separated
from Mozambique harbour by the peninsula of
Cabaceira. On the southern side of this peninsula,
which forms the northern side of Mozambique
harbour, are a few Portuguese villas,
which the Arabs never molest while the Portuguese
remain on peaceable terms with them in
this neighbourhood, which they take care to do,
as they have become far too weak to contend
with the native population on the mainland.