GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND. 37 
lectual and social life, within the short period of 
little more than half a century. 
The Comoro group of islands, which occupies 
a position midway between the northern point of 
Madagascar and the African mainland, although 
possessing an independent government of its 
own, may fitly be noticed here, as it is inti¬ 
mately connected with the country of the Hova, 
by race, commercial ties, and a unity of in¬ 
terests, as well as by its geographical position. 
Much has been written about the natural loveli¬ 
ness of Comoro, Johanna, Mohilla, and Mayotte, 
the islets which form the group, and which seem 
to float upon the bosom of the clear waters 
“ like emeralds set in a silver sea ” ; but of the 
moral and intellectual condition of the active 
and numerous inhabitants — partly negro and 
partly Arab—there is scarcely anything satis¬ 
factory to be said. Their chief source of rev¬ 
enue is the trade in sugar, rice, and coffee with 
Eastern Africa and the adjacent islands of the 
Mozambique, — viz., Bourbon, Mauritius, and 
Madagascar. There are several flourishing sugar- 
estates on the island of Johanna, the property of 
the sultan of that island—who is the supreme 
authority throughout the Comoros—and one or 
two Creole planters who have established them¬ 
selves along the banks of the rivers of Johanna 
and Comoro. But it is of a less legitimate com- 
