32 



'PASSES OF ZANZIBAR.' 



nel which, draining the uplands, supplies the 

 6 Palace,' and trickles through a conduit into the 

 sea. We shall presently visit it. 



Entering the coral reef which defends this 

 great store-house of Eastern Intertropical Africa, 

 I remarked that the lucent amethyst of the 

 waters was streaked and patched with verdigris 

 green ; the 6 light of the waves ' being caused by 

 shoals, whose golden sands blended with the blue 

 of heaven. The 6 Passes of Zanzibar' reminded 

 me in colouration of the 6 Gateways of Jeddah,' 

 and as the coral reefs cut like razors, they must 

 be threaded with equal care. So smooth was 

 the surface within the walls, that each ship, 

 based upon a thread of light, seemed to hover 

 over its own reflected image. 



And now we could distinguish the normal 

 straight line of Arab town, extending about a 

 mile and a half in length, facing north, and 

 standing out in bold relief, from the varied tints 

 and the grandeur of forest that lay behind. A 

 Puritanical plainness characterized the scene — 

 cathedrals without the graceful minarets of Jed- 

 dah, mosques without the cloisters of Cairo, 

 turrets without the domes and monuments of 

 Syria; and the straight stiff sky-line was un- 

 relieved except by a few straggling palms. In 



