GLIMPSES OF EAST AFRICA AND ZANZIBAR 



of great importance, and talk to friends, and feel 

 they are being gazed at with envy by their lesser 

 dressed comrades. 



Baruku was the son of an old Arab and a 

 Swahili woman, but he certainly must have taken 

 after his mother in features and colour. 



His is a type of good Swahili servant, and be- 

 fore going any further it may not be amiss to say 

 a little more about the Swahilis, from whom servants 

 and porters are drawn. 



The Swahili, or literally coast people, are de- 

 scendants of a mixture of ancient Persians and 

 ancient and modern Arabs, with the native tribes 

 of the coast ; and, like most mongrels, they seem to 

 inherit the bad points and qualities of each, both 

 physically and mentally. For centuries most of 

 them have been slaves, so in some respects they 

 ought to make good servants, having learnt to 

 obey. 



To their master's face they are fairly quiet. They 

 are not remarkable for their beauty, having gener- 

 ally broad noses with expanding nostrils, and loose 

 flabby lips ; their hair, which the men keep shaved, 

 would be woolly and curly if left uncut. As a rule 

 they are not black, but dark brown in colour and 

 sometimes much lighter, taking after some Arab 

 ancestor. Some of the young women have pleasing, 

 jolly faces, usually full of laughter, but they become 

 very ugly indeed when old. The women are well 



30 



