178 



HEALTH AT ZANZIBAR. 



c contrary to all other testimony.' Every tra- 

 veller, however, knows it to be correct. As in 

 the lovely climates of the Congo River and the 

 South Sea Islands, corporal lassitude leads to in- 

 dolence, languor, and decline of mental energy, 

 which can be recovered only by the bracing 

 influence of the northern winter. Many new 

 arrivals complain of depressing insomnia, with 

 alternations of lethargic sleep : I never enjoyed 

 at Zanzibar the light refreshing rest of the de- 

 sert. Yet the island is a favourable place for 

 the young African traveller to undergo the in- 

 evitable 1 seasoning fever, which upon the coast 

 or in the interior might prove fatal. The high- 

 lands, or the borders of the great central basin, 

 are tolerably healthy, but an invalid would find 

 no comforts there — hardly a waterproof roof. 

 He should not, however, risk after recovery a 

 second attack, but at once push on to his goal ; 

 otherwise he will expend in preparation the 

 strength and bottom required to carry out his 

 explorations. With a fresh, sound constitution, 

 he may work hard for three years, and even 

 if driven home by ill health he may return in 

 comparative safety within a reasonable time. 



No European, unless thoroughly free from 

 organic disease, should venture to remain longer 



