GLIMPSES OF EAST AFRICA AND ZANZIBAR 



some palms and grass between us and the 

 water. 



Chwaka is a huge bay, as round as an orange and 

 very smooth. 



Soon after six o'clock next morning my hus- 

 band, Mark, and I sallied forth to bathe, I dressed 

 in a '^ nighty," as I had had no time to make any- 

 thing else, and my husband's bedroom slippers and 

 a topee. We took a long walk out to sea, as for 

 some time the water did not come above our knees. 

 When eventually I thought I might try and swim, 

 it was of course very deep for Mark, who jumped 

 on my back to rest, or else I let him stand up with 

 his forepaws against me, but he would follow me 

 and was hugely excited. It was glorious, the water 

 cool but not cold, and so clear, with a sandy bottom, 

 unlike the other side of the Island where we lived, 

 where the sea is impossible to use to bathe in, being 

 a general drain for rubbish. 



Later on it poured with rain, the bungalow 

 leaked, and our food was simply black with ants, 

 many finding a salty grave in the tinned butter. 

 The only things to be bought in Chwaka were 

 chickens, eggs, fish and milk — no bread ! 



The native women go out wading with big nets 

 or sheets, dragging the sea for fish, each with a 

 turban of rags and a wooden dish either on her 

 head or in her cloth across her shoulders. Small 

 boys catch delicious tiny soles or " slips " with their 



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