J O H 



198 



J O H 



erclers ; and it is related, that there is a small lake 

 among the mountains of the interior, which is held sa- 

 cred, as well as the water- fowl that frequent it. The 

 higher ranks and clergy are not entirely destitute of 

 learning, and they possess some books among them, 

 apparently for the most part theological. 



The government of the island is monarchical, elec- 

 tive, (though the right is not known to have been exer- 

 cised,) and aristocratic. The extent of the Sultan's 

 power is not explained ; he is obliged to obtain the 

 sanction of his chiefs to certain acts, such as the decla- 

 ration of peace or war ; and the latter are said to defray 

 its expence by a voluntary contribution, in return for 

 which they claim all the booty. Profound respect is 

 entertained for the person of the Sultan ; none of the 

 inhabitants can address him unless kneeling, and hav- 

 ing touched the ground with- their foreheads. He ne- 

 ver goes abroad but when accompanied'by several chiefs 

 and domestics, of whom one carries his betel box, other 

 two his lances, a fourth precedes him blowing a shell, 

 and a considerable retinue of the populace is in attend- 

 ance. The charges of government are defrayed by a 

 tax from the villages. Formerly the other Comoro 

 islands were subject to the Sultan of Johanna, And the 

 present prince still claims the sovereignty of them, and 

 the vassalage of their chiefs ; but it is very doubtful 

 how far he receives any tribute. Females are not ex- 

 cluded from the succession. 



The principal town of the island is Machaclou, or 

 Matsanudo, on the north coast, near the bottom of a 

 mountain. It is surrounded by walls fifteen feet high, 

 flanked by square towers, and is said to be a mile and 

 a half in circuit. 15ut the streets are narrow and irre- 

 gular, resembling so many lanes, and the houses poor 

 both within and without. They are commonly ranged 

 around a small interior court. The first apartment is 

 open, and beyond the court is that of the women. In the 

 former, the place for repose is separated by a chintz cur- 

 tain from the rest of the room, and elevated in an angle 

 several feet high. It is composed of successive broad 

 steps, whereon one or two persons can rest. The middle 

 of the apartment is appropriated for meals, where the 

 guests either sit on low stools, or recline against the steps 

 of the bed-place. The houses of the chief men, however, 

 are capacious, but scantily furnished. That of the king, 

 which cannot merit the name of a palace, differs from 

 the rest in having a more spacious vestibule, and a long 

 gallery hung round with musquets and powder horns, 

 serving both for a hall of audience and a kind of arse- 

 nal. At one end are three large windows within a ba- 

 lustrade, where also is an arm chair, occupied as a throne 

 by the sovereign. Sir William Jones describes an 

 apartment wherein the sultan received him, as " hung 

 with old red cloth, and decorated with pieces of porce- 

 lain, and festoons of English bottles ; the lamps were 

 placed on the ground in large sea shells ; and the bed- 

 place was a recess, concealed by a chintz hanging op- 

 posite to a sofa." The houses are so much impregna- 

 ted with the odour of musk, for which the natives en- 

 tertain a remarkable partiality, as to be exceedingly 

 disagreeable. Machadou contains a mosque, a small 

 mean edifice, surmounted by a minaret, where several 

 Arabians are always to be seen in prayer. It was built 

 by a female sovereign of the island, named Halimah, or 

 Alima, who probably reigned two centuries ago ; but 

 is now becoming ruinous. The fort commands the 

 town, and being elevated high above it, at first sight 

 presents an imposing appearance. It is gained by 



flights of SCO or 400 steps included between two walls. Johanna, 

 The country is rather arid ig the immediate vicinity of ^Joh" 811 ^ 

 Machadou ; but the climate is very fine, and the people S *^~" 

 healthy. Some nevertheless labour umW severe dis- 

 tempers. Fevers and dysentery are the most common 

 complaints; and it is much to be doubted whether 

 the climate is equally salubrious to Europeans. 



Another town, said to have been named Johanna, 

 stood on the eastern coast seven leagues from Macha- 

 dou, in a picturesque situation. It was sacked in 1790 

 by the natives of Madagascar, who make frequent de- 

 scents on the Comoro islands, and always commit ter- 

 rible ravages. Their very name makes the inhabitants 

 tremble, and in general they never go unarmed. 



Very different statements have been given of the 

 population of Johanna. Grose states it at 130,000, 

 which exceeds all probability. Captain Williamson in 

 1810, computes it at 90,00') or 100,000, which atame- 

 dium would allow 581 persons to each square mile; 

 and Sir William Jones speaks of taxes being levied 

 frorn200villages. But late calculations, apparently much 

 more authentic, reduce the population to 6000 or 7000. 



The history of Johanna is obscure. It is supposed 

 that the Comoro islands were peopled originally from 

 Africa, and that the Arabians established themselves 

 here in the twelfth century. In the year 1600, Captain 

 John Davis found Johanna governed by a queen ; and 

 fifteen years later, Sir Thomas Roe and Captain Peyton 

 remarked, that the dominion of a female extended over 

 all the islands ; but he seems to place her residence on 

 Mohilla.one of their number. Sidi Ahmed ruled Johanna 

 in 1783, probably the same Sultan who, in 1788, is re- 

 presented as being 65 years of age, and having occupi- 

 ed the government for 40 years. His manners were 

 dignified, and his courtesy to strangers of the most en- 

 gaging description ; but the island was visited by 

 many misfortunes during his reign, and he is supposed 

 to have survived the sack of Johanna only a short time. 

 He was succeeded by his eldest son Missolin, who died 

 in the year 1797, leaving a son Ahmed under the regen- 

 cy of his brother. During the minority of this prince, 

 33 Frenchmen, some of whom had distinguished them- 

 selves in the revolution that agitated their own country, 

 were banished hither, and landed under the ostensible 

 pretence of assisting in the defence of the island. In 

 21 days no less than 20 died : the survivors embarked 

 for Comoro, 25 leagues distant ; but owing to accidents 

 and other causes, they successively perished, so that not 

 one survived in 1804, only a year after their first arri- 

 val. The regent having formed a plan for the destruc- 

 tion of the young prince, which proved abortive, fled 

 to Muskat, where he in vain sought the aid of the 

 Imam. Lat. 12 4' N. Long. 44 34' E. (c) 



JOHNSON, SAMUEL, an eminent English author, 

 was born at Litchfield, in Staffordshire; on the 18th of 

 September, (N. s.) 1709. His mother, Sarah Ford. 

 was descended of an ancient race of substantial yeo. 

 manry in Warwickshire. His father, MichaelJohnson, 

 was a bookseller and stationer in Litchfield. He was a 

 man of a large robust body, and of considerable mental 

 attainments ; but not without that morbid taint of me- 

 lancholy which his son inherited. It seems to have 

 been from him, and not from his nurse, as has been 

 elsewhere stated, that our author received the tinge of 

 scrophula, which disfigured a countenance naturally 

 well-formed, and hurt his visual nerves so much, that 

 he did not see with one of his eyes, although its ap- 

 pearance was little different from that of the other. 



