CHAP. XVII PREHISTORIC COLONISATION y:,-j 



offspring of these unions are the SuahiH. In some cases they are 

 normal haif-breed Arabs ; from this type a gradual transition can be 

 traced to that of the children of parents of different Bantu tribes, in 

 one of whom an obscure trace of Semitic blood occurs. 



As to the date of the first entrance of the Arab settlers there is no 

 sufficient evidence. I had, however, owing to the kindness of Mr. 

 Bird Thompson, the pleasure of meeting at Witu an old Suahili named 

 Sherifu ben Abdullah, who had been secretary to the Sultan of Witu, 

 and had long been interested in the past history of his race. In a 

 series of conversations, in which Thompson acted as interpreter, he 

 told me some of the current traditions about the various settlements on 

 the coast. According to his information there were three main intro- 

 ductions of outside influence. Originally the coast was occupied by 

 natives of whom Sherifu knew nothing. They were no doubt Bantu, 

 and probably spoke Ki-ngozi, an archaic form of the Suahili language 

 now used only in poetry. Then, most likely long before the Christian era, 

 the Arabs opened a trade with Africa, and their vessels sailed down the 

 coast. According to Bent it was an Arabian race that erected the 

 ruined buildings of Zimbabwe, and first worked the gold mines of 

 Mashonaland. That traces of this influence still survive in that district 

 is shown by the fact that the natives still ornament their utensils with a 

 crescentic and herring-bone design of a characteristically Arabian type. 

 Bent's conclusion has not passed unchallenged, though the evidence in 

 its favour is very strong. If it be accepted, then it is possible that the 

 Arab settlements on the eastern coast were made in connection with this 

 trade. There is, however, no doubt that Phoenician and Egyptian 

 merchants sailed down the Red Sea and along the African coast several 

 centuries before the time of Christ. They were either preceded or 

 soon followed by Arabian traders, who established settlements along 

 the coast. The first of these were probably in what is now Somaliland, 

 whence they gradually extended southward. 



The second stage in the history of the East African coast was 

 entered about 700 years ago, when a settlement took place of which 

 traditions are still current, confirmed it is said by manuscripts in 

 the possession of some of the old Arab families at Lamu. There 

 was a great fight in Muscat between two factions, one of which, 

 the Nabahani, was defeated and its members expelled. Under their 

 leader Saif the exiles settled on the island of Patta, opposite Lamu. 



A couple of centuries later the Portuguese began to colonise the 

 district. They worked their way along the coast from the south, and, 

 finding Lamu a convenient point whence to sail eastward to India, 

 they made their first permanent settlement on that island. They 

 built a station, which is now the town of Sheila, by the entrance to the 

 liarbour. An old church, now used as a mosque, and some ruined 

 buildings still remain as relics of this occupation. 



The Portuguese were finally expelled from the coast by the united 



Z 



