128 



PERSIAN REMAINS. 



north of the Equator. On the Zangian main- 

 land wells sunk in the rock, monuments of a 

 form now obsolete ; mosques with elaborate 

 minarets and pillars of well-cut coralline ; forti- 

 fied positions, loopholed enclosures, and ruined 

 cities whose names have almost been forgotten, 

 are the results of the civilization which they 

 brought with them southwards. 



The limits assigned by the Arab geographers 

 to the c Land of the Zinj ' are elastic. While 

 some, as Yakut, make it extend from the mouths 

 of the Jub River (S. lat. 0° 14' 30") to Cape Cor- 

 rientes (S. lat. 24° T 5") and thus include Sofala ; 

 others, with El Idrisi, separate from it the latter 

 district, and unjustly make its southern limit 

 the Rufiji River (S. lat. 7° 38'), thus excluding 

 Ivilwa. It should evidently extend to Mozam- 

 bique Island (S. lat. 15° Z 2"), where the Wasa- 

 wahili meet the ' Kafir ' races. The length 

 would thus be, in round numbers, 15° =900 geo- 

 graphical miles, whilst the breadth, which is every- 

 where insignificant, can hardly be estimated. 



The Arabs, who love to mingle etymology 

 with legend and fable, derive the word £ Zanzi- 

 bar ' from the exclamation of its pleased ex- 

 plorers, c Zayn zaT barr ! ' (fair is this land!). 

 Similar stories concerning Brazilian Olinda and 



