ARRIVAL AT ZANZIBAR 



3 



on the Lloyd steamship £ Titania,' arriving safely at Aden, 

 whence, after a short stay, I proceeded by one of the British 

 India Company's vessels. 



It was fortunate for me that Mr. Oswald, then Consul for 

 Austria at Zanzibar, was on his way back to his post in the 

 same boat ; for in the course of much pleasant intercourse 

 with him he not only gave me many valuable hints, but taught 

 me a great deal of Kiswahiii, which is the language used in all 

 trade dealings at Zanzibar. 



During the latter half of my voyage I also made another 

 very useful acquaintance in the person of Mr. Gustav Dehn- 

 hardt, the younger of the two brothers whose names are so 

 inseparably connected with Witu. 1 Mr. Dehnhardt joined us 

 at the coast-station of Lamu, and from my first arrival in 

 Zanzibar gave me the constant benefit of his wide and varied 

 experience. No better travelling companion could I possibly 

 have desired. 



We cast anchor in the picturesque harbour of Mombasa, 

 and the next day, October 31, which dawned clear and 

 bright, we sighted, to our delight, a low-lying strip of the 

 coast of the island of Zanzibar, bathed in the soft mists of 

 early morning. We neared it rapidly ; gradually its form 

 became more and more defined, the waving crests of countless 

 palms stood out against the sky, and soon the whole of the 

 beautiful scene was spread out to our admiring view. Our 

 ship had now but to thread its way between a few gleaming- 

 green coral islets, before we were opposite the Custom House 

 and surrounded by a swarm of little boats. The anchor chains 

 rattled as we came to a standstill, and, embarking on one of 

 the many smaller craft plying for hire, Mr. Dehnhardt and I 

 were soon on the beach, and in the midst of a o-reat deal of 



1 Now included in British East Africa by the treaty of 1890 between England 

 and Germany. — Trans. 



b 2 



