ws: they are small, but much relished by
the people.

The Arabs here are a wretched lot physically--thin, washed-out
creatures--many with bleared eyes.

_29-30th March, 1866._--- This harbour has somewhat the shape of a
bent bow or the spade on a playing-card, the shaft of the arrow being
the entrance in; the passage is very deep, but not more than 100 yards
wide, and it goes in nearly S.W.; inside it is deep and quite secure,
and protected from all winds. The lands westward rise at once to about
200 feet, and John, a hill, is the landmark by which it is best known
in coming along the coast--so say the Arabs. The people have no
cattle, but say there are no tsetse flies: they have not been
long here, _i.e._ under the present system; but a ruin on the
northern peninsula or face of the entrance, built of stone and
lime--Arab-fashion, and others on the north-west, show that the place
has been known and used of old. The adjacent country has large game at
different water pools, and as the whole country is somewhat elevated
it probably is healthy. There is very little mangrove, but another
enclosed piece of water to the south of this probably has more. The
language of the people here is Swaheli; they trade a little in
gum-copal and Orchilla weed. An agent of the Zanzibar custom-house
presides over the customs, which are very small, and a jemidar
acknowledging the Sultan is the chief authority; but the people are
little superior to the natives whom they have displaced. The jemidar
has been very civil to me, and gives me two guides to go on to Adonde,
but no carriers can be hired. Water is found in wells in the coral
rock which underlies the whole place.

_4th April, 1866._--When about to start from Pemba, at the entrance to
the other side of the bay one of our buffaloes gored a donkey so
badly that he had to be shot: we cut off the tips of the offender's
horns, on the principle of "locking the stable-door when the steed is
stolen," and marched. We came to level spots devoid of vegetation, and
hard on the surface, but a deposit of water below allowed the camels
to sink up to their bodies through the crust. Hauling them out, we got
along to the jemidar's house, which is built of coral and lime. Hamesh
was profuse in his professions of desire to serve, but gave a shabby
hut which let in rain and wind. I slept one night in it, and it was
unbearable, so I asked the jemidar to allow me to sleep in his
court-room, where many of th