490 



APPENDIX III. 



None of these streams are large : that at which the ships 

 water ^ is situated about 1 J mile north of the town, where 

 it flows into the sea, at the north entrance of the harbour. 

 The water when first taken up is good, but from the 

 quantit}^ of putrid vegetable matter in suspension, upon 

 keeping a short time it becomes very offensive both in 

 taste and smell ; in a few weeks, however, it regains its 

 original sweetness. Ships ought always to fill at low 

 water, else they will have it brackish. The climate of 

 Zanzibar is similar to that of India, only the Monsoon, or 

 rainy season, sets in sooner. From September to March 

 the season is dry and warm ; the rest of the months are 

 rainy and tempestuous. During our stay the thermometer 

 ranged from 80 J to 87^" at noon ; and from the date of 

 our arrival to the 5th of March, the weather was dry, 

 cloudy, and warm, with northerly winds. From that, till 

 our dej^arture, it was in general cloudy, with frequent 

 violent squalls of wind, and rain from tlie S.W., attended 

 with much tliundcr and lightning. 



The town of Zanzibar is situated on the west side of 

 the island on a tongue of land formed by the above-men- 

 tioned creek, and faces the small sandy isle which consti- 

 tutes the southern boundary of the harbour. It is large 

 and populous, and is composed chiefly of cajan huts, all 

 neatly constructed with sloping roofs. There are, how- 

 ever, a good number of stone buildings in it belonging to 

 the Arabs and merchants ; and in the centre, close to the 

 beach, stands a fort, seemingly partly of Arab, partly of 

 Portuguese, construction. It is square with a tower at 

 each corner, and a battery or outwork towards the sea, in 

 which I observed four or five guns of French manufacture 

 ' The Mto-ni. 



