CHAP. IX. SHIP DRAWS TOO MUCH WATER. 243 



Touching at Mohilla, one of the Comoro Islands, on 

 our return, we found a mixed race of Arabs, Africans, 

 and their conquerors, the natives of Madagascar. Being 

 Mahometans, they have mosques and schools, in which we 

 were pleased to see girls as well as boys taught to read the 

 Koran. The teacher said he was paid by the job, and 

 received ten dollars for teaching each child to read. The 

 clever ones learn in six months ; but the dull ones take 

 a couple of years. We next went over to Johanna for our 

 friends ; and, after a sojourn of a few days at the beautiful 

 Comoro Islands, we sailed for the Kongone mouth of the 

 Zambesi with Bishop Mackenzie and his party. We 

 reached the coast in seven days, and passed up the 

 Zambesi to the Shire. 



The " Pioneer," constructed under the skilful supervi- 

 sion of Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker and the late Admiral 

 Washington, warm-hearted and highly esteemed friends 

 of the Expedition, was a very superior vessel, and well 

 suited for our work in every respect, except in her 

 draught of water. Five feet were found to be too much 

 for the navigation of the upper part of the Shire. 

 Designed to draw three feet only, the weight necessary 

 to impart extra strength, and fit her for the ocean, 

 brought her down two feet more, and caused us a great 

 deal of hard and vexatious work, in laying out anchors, 

 and toiling at the capstan to get her off sandbanks. 

 We should not have minded this much, but for the 

 heavy loss of time which might have been more profit- 

 ably, and infinitely more pleasantly, spent in intercourse 

 with the people, exploring new regions, and otherwise 

 carrying out the objects of the Expedition. Once we 

 were a fortnight on a bank of soft yielding sand, having 

 only two or three inches less water than the ship drew ; 

 this delay was occasioned by the anchors coming home. 

 and the current swinging the ship broadside on the bank, 



