Zanzibar. 
31 
the Yurabis had to yield the government to another 
Arab tribe, the Bu Saides, or Lords of Oman. 
In 1828, Sayid Said, then known as the Imaum of 
Muscat, paid a visit to Zanzibar. The place must have 
pleased him, and finding his position at Muscat 
becoming, for many reasons, extremely uncomfortable, 
he removed his headquarters to Zanzibar. 
Zanzibar had not been a place of much importance 
hitherto, but now its prospects began to improve. 
The presence of the Sultan gave some guarantee of 
security to foreigners, and a new element was soon 
introduced to the place. Certain Americans thought 
they saw in Zanzibar a new field for comibercial en- 
terprise. The idea was enough. In 1835, America 
negotiated an advantageous treaty with the Sultan, 
and a consular and commercial establishment w^as 
forthwith commenced. In 1841, Lieut-Col. Hamerton 
was sent to Zanzibar, as her B. M.'s Consul, and since, 
the French and German have followed suit. 
Sayid Said died in October, 1856, and was succeeded 
at Zanzibar by his son Majid, Sayid Suwayn coming 
into the possession of Muscat. The latter, ambitious 
to unite in himself, as his father had done, the govern- 
ment o£ both places, made ready his fleet, and was 
soon sailing from Muscat with the view of seizing upon 
Zanzibar. This design, however, was not approved 
of by the Indian Government Britishin fluence was 
interposed ; Sayid Suwayn was met upon the high 
seas, and sent back whence he came. It was, how- 
ever, arranged by treaty that an annual tribute of 
$40,000 should be paid by Zanzibar to Muscat, an 
arrangement, we believe, which has never ceased to be 
a source of annoyance to the Sultan of Zanzibar. 
