CHAPTER III. 
SUAHILI-LAND AND THE WASUAHILI. 
Before describing the people it may be desirable to 
give some account of the country they occupy. We 
find ourselves, however, in some difficulty for the 
want of a designation. Names there are in abundance 
for special localities ; yet, singular to say, there is no 
general term in modern use by which the territory 
occupied by the Wasuahili is designated. U-suahili, 
according to the general method of denoting country, 
would not be endured, and we have therefore chosen 
the compound at the head of the chapter, Suahili- 
land, the land occupied by the Wasuahili, and which 
is more or less under the government of Zanzibar. 
Without attempting to be too precise, it may be said 
to extend from Kiloa, 9° south latitude, to Barawa, 
1° north. There may be a few Kisuahili-speaking 
people and a few villages nominally under the 
Government beyond these limits, but they can 
scarcely be said to belong to the country. These 
boundaries comprehend both the islands and main- 
land, the former being the more important of the 
two. There is scarcely a single town of import- 
