136 



GEOGRAPHY OF ZANZIBAR. 



ever been a central station on the Zanzibar coast, 

 and the slaves brought from the interior are still 

 remarkable for size. Moreover, as Dr Beke well 

 observes (Sources of the Nile, p. 69), 6 In attempt- 

 ing to fix in the map of Africa the true position 

 of Ptolemy's lakes and sources of the Nile, we 

 must discard all notions of their having been 

 determined absolutely by means of astronomical 

 observations, special maps of particular localities, 

 or otherwise, and regard them simply as derived 

 from oral information, and as laid down relatively 

 to some well-known point or points on the 

 coast.' 1 



Zanzibar, the principal link in the chain of 

 islets which extends from Makdishu (Magadoxo), 

 in the Barr el Benadir or Haven-land, to Cape 

 Corrientes, is a long narrow reef, with the major 

 axis disposed from N. N. W. to S. S. E., and 

 subtending a deep bight or bend in the coast, 

 justly enough called the Barbaric Gulf. The 

 length is 48*25 geographical miles from Ba'as 

 Nunguwi, the northern (S. lat. 5° 42' 8" Baper), 

 to Ba'as Kizimkaz, the southern, extremity (S. 

 lat. 6° 27' 7" Baper). The breadth is 18 miles 

 from the Tort in E. long. 39° 14/ 5" Bapcr's cor- 

 rection, to the continental coast in E. long. (G.) 



1 See Part II. chap. 11. 



