MNAZI MOYYA. 



365 



unfavourable — the trees had been injured by 

 drought ; the over-supply had sunk the price 

 70 per cent., and many Arab proprietors talked 

 of returning to rice and cocoa-nuts. Yet, in 

 1859, the crop rose to some 200,000 Parasilah 

 = 7,000,000 lbs, valued at about £85,000 ; where- 

 as 10 years before the total produce of Zanzibar, 

 including Pemba, was 120,000 to 150,000 Para- 

 silah, and in 1839-40 it barely numbered 9000. 



We returned via the bush to the south of 

 the city, passing through a luxuriant growth of 

 the hardest woods. After a stiff ride over the 

 worst of paths, a mere c picada,' as the Brazilians 

 say, we skirted the fetid lagoon which subtends 

 the eastern city from north to south, and reached 

 Mnazi Moyya, 'One Cocoa-nut Tree.' This bit 

 of open ground is the Bois de Boulogne of 

 Zanzibar, the single place for exercise, and we 

 did not wonder that so many prefer to stay at 

 home. 



During the 'Id Saghir or Kuchuk Bayram, 

 here called Siku-khu za Idf, ' One Cocoa-nut Tree' 

 is a lively place. Whilst the boys sing and 

 dance about the streets, and the garrison blacks, 

 armed with sabres, engage near the fort in a 

 Zumo or Pyrrhic, wildly waving their tremulous 

 blades, and the Wahiao or Bozalsfrom about Kilwa 



