252 



'industry: 



being kept unslaked in sacks, it is wetted with 

 sea-water, which prevents it drying, and it is 

 then heaped np in the moist open air. More- 

 over, it is mixed with sea-sand, which is washed 

 in fresh water, but its salt 6 sweats out ' for 

 many a long year. Thus the best houses are 

 liable to cuticular eruptions during the wet 

 season : the mortar cracks, and is patched with 

 a leprosy of blue, yellow, and green mould. 

 The flat roofs are protected from the rain with 

 thick coatings of this material, pounded to the 

 desired consistency by rows of slave-women and 

 boys, armed with long flat tamps and rude mal- 

 lets. During the last 15 years the price of lime 

 at Zanzibar has increased five-fold, $11 being 

 now (1857) paid for a small heap ; and, as usual, 

 when Europeans are the purchasers, it rises 50 

 per cent. 



Section 6. 



The Industry of Zanzibar. 



The industry of Zanzibar is closely akin to 

 nil ; the same may be said of the coast — both 



