TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 127 



scendants of the aboriginal Arabs. The Mohammedans, on the other hand, stig- 

 matize them as outcasts. Those of the tribe who have immigrated into Nejed and 

 other Mohammedan settlements, conform outwardly to the religious rites of the 

 dominant creed ; but in their own tents, and wheu alone, they do not conform. 

 No intermarriage takes place between the Selaib and the Arabs. The Selaib are 

 capital sportsmen; they live largely on venison, and wear a long shirt, coming 

 down to the feet, of deerskin. But their ordinary diet is locusts and dates. They 

 wander for pasturage for their sheep and camels during eight months in the vear. 

 They profess to reverence Mecca, but state that their own proper place of pilgri- 

 mage is Haran in Irak or Mesopotamia. It is said also that their principal people 

 have psalms and other books written in Chaldasan or Assyrian. They worship the 

 Pole-star, which they call Jah. as the one immoveable point which directs all tra- 

 vellers by sea or land. They reverence also a star in the constellation called Jedy, 

 corresponding with Aries. In adoring either of these heavenly bodies, the Selaib 

 stands with his face towards it, and stretches out his arms so as to represent a cross 

 with his own body. They believe in one God, and pray three times a day — at 

 sunrise, at the declension from the meridian, and at sunset. They are peaceful, and 

 markedly hospitable, like all people who have nothing to give. The Selaib them- 

 selves assert that they are a tribe of Sabosans who emigrated to Nejed. The author 

 stated that the Imauni of Nejed, who had received his mission so favourably, had 

 been assassinated soon after his departure from Arabia. 



On the Comoro Islands. By Lieut. -Col. L. Pellt. 

 The Comoros are a group of four islands lying between the northern extremity 

 of Madagascar and the East African coast. The most northerly is Comoro proper, 

 an island about thirty miles in length, with an average breadth of about ten miles. 

 Nearest to this, and a little further south, is Mohilla, the smallest of the four. Jo- 

 hanna, lying south-east of Mohilla, and distant from it some thirty miles, is the 

 second in respect of extent ; and Mayotte, thirty miles south-east of Johanna, is 

 third. In the year 1841 the French established themselves on the little island of 

 Zaondzi, near Mayotte, gaining their position by espousing the cause of one of the 

 contending chiefs, on the condition of his ceding Zaondzi to them. It is now forti- 

 fied and furnished with an arsenal, and it was at one time planned to make Ma- 

 votte a military and naval position of the first class ; but the plans seem to have 

 been discarded since the revolution of 1848. Mayotte has reef-locked anchorages 

 extending over a length of more than thirty miles ; communication is kept up with 

 Bourbon by means of a small steam schoo'ier of war, and Col. Pelly found some 

 thousand tons of coal, besides patent fuel, stored at Zaondzi. The staple product of 

 Mayotte is sugar ; if well cultivated the island might export from 15,000 to 20,000 

 tons per annum ; but there is a great scarcity of labour. The popidation is stated 

 to number about 7000 souls. The island of Johanna is a sultanat, without any di- 

 rect relation with the other islands, the present chief being named Abdullah, the 

 descendant of a family which has ruled the island for the last century. Johanna 

 contains a population of 12,000, including aborigines, half-castes, slaves, and 

 foreigners. A lingua franca, called the Johanna language, is current, but Kisuahili 

 is also spoken. The Arabic character is used in writing, no matter what the lan- 

 guage may be, even if English. The people profess the Mohammedan religion, and 

 are apparently quite free from the vice of drunkenness. The climate is salubrious, 

 sea breezes and frequent showers tempering the heat. The soil is composed of the 

 detritus of volcanic rocks and humus. Coffee thrives excellently, and will probably 

 form ultimately the staple product of the island. The trade of Johanna is at pre- 

 sent not large, the total value of the past year's (1860) imports being about £4500, 

 and it is carried on chiefly with Zanzibar and the French settlements at Mayotte 

 and Madagascar. Mohilla is governed by a queen related to the royal family of 

 Madagascar. The island has a population of about 4000 souls. Of all the Co- 

 moro group Comoro proper is the most remarkable for the magnificence and wild- 

 ness of its scenery. From its surface rises an active volcano, 8000 feet in height, 

 which frequently vomits forth streams of lava, which flood its flanks and form new 

 promontories and islands in the surrounding ocean. When the English consul, Mr. 

 Sunley, visited the island after an absence of four years, he found a lava reef three-. 



