8 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNALS. [Chap. I. 



six of my men have fever ; few retain health long, and 

 considering the lowness of the island, and the absence of 

 sanitary regulations in the town, it is not to be wondered at. 

 The Sultan has little power, being only the successor to the 

 captain of the horde of Arabs who came down and overran 

 the island and maritime coasts of the adjacent continent. 

 He is called only Said or Syed, never Sultan; and they 

 can boast of choosing a new one if he does not suit 

 them. Some coins were found in digging here which have 

 Cufic inscriptions, and are about 900 years old. The island 

 is low ; the highest parts may not be more than 150 feet 

 above the sea ; it is of a coral formation, with sandstone 

 conglomerate. Most of the plants are African, but clove- 

 trees, mangoes, and cocoa-nut groves give a luxuriant South 

 Sea Island look to the whole scenery. 



We visited an old man to-day, the richest in Zanzibar, 

 who is to give me letters to his friends at Tanganyika, 

 and I am trying to get a depot of goods for provisions 

 formed there, so that when I reach it I may not be 

 destitute. 



18th March. — I have arranged with Koorje, a Banian, who 

 farms the custom-house revenue here, to send a supply of 

 beads, cloth, flour, tea, coffee, and sugar, to TJjiji, on Lake 

 Tanganyika. The Arab there, with whom one of Koorje's 

 people will remain in charge of the goods, is called Thani 

 bin Suelim. 



Yesterday we went to take leave of the Sultan, and to 

 thank him for all his kindness to me and my men, which 

 has indeed been very great. He offered me men to go with 

 me, and another letter if I wished it. He looks very ill. 



I have received very great kindness during my stay from 

 Dr. and Mrs. Seward. They have done everything for me 

 in their power : may God Almighty return it all abun- 

 dantly into their bosoms, in the way that He best can. Dr. 

 Seward's views of the policy pursued here I have no doubt 



