42 Wanderings in Eastern Africa. 
Tliey are divided by intervals of calms and variable 
winds. There are three falls of rain during the year, 
the Masika, the Mcho, and the Vuli, more observed 
on the mainland than at Zanzibar, where the rainfall 
is distributed more generally throughout the yean 
The Masika, or heavy rains, are ushered in by the 
Kausi, and prevail through April, May, and June. 
The Mcho are mere showers, the remains of the 
Masika ; while the Vuli, latter or small rains, fall 
between October and November, when the sun has 
crossed the equator, is on his way to the south, and 
the winds are changeable. 
European residents in Zanzibar all suffer more or 
less from fever, and in many cases the malady proves 
fatal Deaths may be traceable sometimes to want 
of care; yet, making allowances of this kind, our 
impression is that the per-centage of deaths in Zanzi- 
bar among Europeans has been rather high. The 
climate would doubtless be improved if sanatory 
regulations were introduced, and the city cleansed 
of its filth. A dreadful effluvium arises from the sea- 
beach at low tide, occasioned by the oozing of filth 
from the sands. The city, too, is almost completely 
surrounded by a broad shallow lagoon, over which the 
water flows and returns with every tide, leaving a 
fetid plain, reeking with the most pestiferous va- 
pours. Something needs to be done to remedy this 
evil. 
The water procurable in Zanzibar is not particularly 
good, that from the wells being more or less brackish. 
The Europeans meet this difficulty by collecting as 
much rain-water as they can, preserving it in tanks, 
and filtering it for use. It is not surprising, all things 
