28 
Wanderings in Eastern Africa. 
while England is sending her missionaries tov every 
part of the world, and intends, we hope, to send 
many to Eastern Africa, it should be deemed neces- 
sary to erect a jail in a place like Zanzibar, as a rod 
in terrorem over the heads, and for the incarceration 
of her own (christian ?) subjects. We believe, how- 
ever, that it has not been much used for this purpose, 
it being thought more prudent to forbid English 
sailors going ashore, lest their conduct should render 
it necessary to place them in durance vile ! " Pre- 
vention is better than cure." 
Whatever may be thought of this description of 
the front view of the city of Zanzibar, it is decidedly 
the best it presents. Nothing could be more unin- 
viting than that which lies behind. There are indeed 
a few good buildings, but, taken as a whole, the city 
is scarcely anything better than a vast congregation of 
rubbish. Even the mosques are scarcely respectable; 
the stone buildings are for the most part unplastered, 
and are in the last stages of dilapidation. After this 
nothing remains but cajan hovels of the most wretched 
description ; a framework of poles, plastered with mud, 
and covered with a roofing of makuti," or palm 
leaves. Windows are ignored, light and ventilation 
are uncared for, and cleanliness is out of the question. 
These huts, therefore, are almost as dark as pitch, 
intolerably hot, and indescribably filthy. 
As may be supposed, there is no plan whatever 
about the city. It is a perfect labyrinth. The lanes 
are very narrow ; streets there are none. The bazaars 
are sometimes a little wider than the ordinary alleys, 
but here the smells, sights, and sounds baffle all 
description. Each stall contains a collection of the 
