supply these the slave's lot grows harder. The
distance between master and man increases as the lust of gain is
developed, hence we can hope for no improvement in the slave's
condition, unless the master returns to or remains in barbarism.

_6th March, 1866._--Rains have begun now that the sun is overhead. We
expect the _Penguin_ daily to come from Johanna, and take us to the
Rovuma. It is an unwholesome place; six of my men have fever; few
retain health long, and considering the lowness of the island, and the
absence of sanitary regulations in the town, it is not to be wondered
at. The Sultan has little power, being only the successor to the
captain of the horde of Arabs who came down and overran the island and
maritime coasts of the adjacent continent. He is called only Said or
Syed, never Sultan; and they can boast of choosing a new one if he
does not suit them. Some coins were found in digging here which have
Cufic inscriptions, and are about 900 years old. The island is low;
the highest parts may not be more than 150 feet above the sea; it is
of a coral formation, with sandstone conglomerate. Most of the plants
are African, but clove-trees, mangoes, and cocoa-nut groves give a
luxuriant South Sea Island look to the whole scenery.

We visited an old man to-day, the richest in Zanzibar, who is to give
me letters to his friends at Tanganyika, and I am trying to get a
depot of goods for provisions formed there, so that when I reach it I
may not be destitute.

_18th March, 1866._--I have arranged with Koorje, a Banian, who farms
the custom-house revenue here, to send a supply of beads, cloth,
flour, tea, coffee, and sugar, to Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika. The Arab
there, with whom one of Koorje's people will remain in charge of the
goods, is called Thani bin Suelim.

Yesterday we went to take leave of the Sultan, and to thank him for
all his kindness to me and my men, which has indeed been very great.
He offered me men to go with me, and another letter if I wished it. He
looks very ill.

I have received very great kindness during my stay from Dr. and Mrs.
Seward. They have done everything for me in their power: may God
Almighty return it all abundantly into their bosoms, in the way that
He best can. Dr. Seward's views of the policy pursued here I have no
doubt are the right ones; in fact, the only ones which can be looked
back to with satisfaction, or that have probability of success among a
race of Pariah Arabs.