MOJANGA 307 



freshened as the day advanced, and we sailed at a considerable 

 speed. 



These dhows are first-rate sailers ; they carry one large sail, 

 in shape like a triangle with one corner cut off. But what 

 struck us as very curious was that when tacking, they did not 

 run into the wind's eye as a European ship does, but they turned 

 the dhow right round before the wind, while shifting the long 

 boom to the other side of the mast. But they sail very close to 

 the wind, and seem excellent sea boats. This form of ship is 

 probably a very ancient one, for vessels very similar in shape 

 and rig are figured on the Egyptian monuments, and most 

 likely the " ships of Tarshish " were only rather large dhows. 

 The largest of these vessels have two masts, the one at the stern 

 being much smaller than the other, and both have a rake for- 

 ward, instead of aft, as in European ships. 



Our spirits rose with the wind, for there had been many 

 prophecies at Marovoay that we might be a long time on the 

 way, and, in fact, some friends who preceded us by a month or 

 two were actually three nights on the voyage. But we bounded 

 over the waves and soon felt a considerable swell. Bembatoka 

 Bay is so wide for a considerable distance that the north- 

 western shore is only faintly visible, but it narrows again 

 towards the mouth, and a line of hills running out to the western 

 point defines its outline very clearly ; opposite Mojanga it is 

 about five miles across. Towards noon they pointed out to us 

 a projecting headland, some way ahead to the right, and told 

 us that after rounding that we should see Mojanga. The wind 

 continued strong, but as it got more and more ahead, we had to 

 tack repeatedly. At about half-past three o'clock we reached 

 our destination, casting anchor a quarter of a mile or so from 

 the beach. 



Mojanga was a decidedly pretty and picturesque-looking 

 place from the sea, and a much more civilised-looking town 

 than any I had previously seen in Madagascar. Instead of rush 

 and bamboo houses, there was a long line of white flat-topped 

 buildings of two and three storeys, some having castellated 

 battlements. A score or two of dhows were at anchor in the 

 roads, but there was no European vessel in the harbour. Be- 

 hind the Arab and Indian town the ground rises gently for two 

 hundred or three hundred feet, and at the top of this higher 



