Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

CRUISE OF THE " CASTOr's " BOATS. 63
associated for years witli Europeans, can never
understand why a successful " sharp trick," by
fraud, or lie, is not a commendable achievement.
It is not, therefore, to be wondered at
that one
of these should have been discovered—even
though engaged in one of our cruisers, and receiving
pay and prize-money — giving false information
to his captain in order to get the ship out
of the way of a slave dhow in which he had a pecuniary
interest. And while speaking of interpreters,
I will add, that unless they are allowed some
advantage in the shape of prize-money for
captured vessels, their information will be
unreliable ;
they make so many enemies among
their own countrymen by acting as spies and
informants against the
slave-dealers, that they
endanger their lives, even to hair-breadth
escapes. If they receive pay only, there is
nothing for them to gain by the taking of a
slaver, and they will run no such risk, but will
play into the hands of the Arabs.
On the morning of the 15th March, we had
an exciting chase after a dhow, which there
would have been no chance of overtaking^ had