Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

CRUISE OP THE
about to leave it for a few days when a spark
f«pm one of the men's pipes fell on the grass,
which instantly caug-ht fire, like tinder, and
commenced smonldering rapidly. We thought,
with a few buckets of water, we had extinguished
it,
so we left the island for the southward, where
we remained cruizing for about a week ; but on
our return we observed the smoke ascending in
dense columns
and the whole of orye side of the
island apparently in a blaze.
There had been,
fortunately, a great down-pour of rain that
morniug, which must have put out the fire ; but
on landing we found that our provisions were
gone. They had evidently been dug up, and, as if
those who had done so expected more might be
buried, there were a great number of pits
duground
the spot. There was not even a remnant
of anything to be found.
The trees for a circle
of about fifty yards' radius were burnt down to
the roots and were lying on the ground in ashes,
with the outlines of the trunks, branches, and
even leaves, as beautifully defined as if they had
been traced with a pencil.
In vain we searched for tin cases or staves of
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