Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

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THE CRUISE OF THE -CASTOR
CHAPTER I.
The " Castor " leaves England—Arrives at the Cape—Her
boats detached— The "Dee"— St. Augustine's Bay
Natives of Madagascar — Angoxa — Slave-trade in
1850—Boat Attack on the Forts of Angoxa—Blockade
of the River — Rendezvous on Mafamalc Island
Encampment on Island—Routine—A Man up a
Tree.
TN May, 1849, I joined H.M.S. " Castor,"
commissioned by tlie late Admiral Wyvil,
then a captain, appointed as Commodore of tlie
Cape of Good Hope and East Coast of Africa
as far as the fourth parallel of south latitude.
On Friday, the 15th June of the same year,
we sailed from Sheerness, the superstition
attached to that day by sailors having long
ceased to exist. If it ever really existed, it
originated probably about the time when Queen
Elizabeth, with the view of creating a reserve