THE KHUNGER-POLYGAMY-FOLDING OF LETTERS.

41

were attired in skull caps, loose white gowns, and girdles in which they wore a 'jambea' or 'khunger.' This formidable weapon, without which an Arab is seldom seen, is about two and a half inches broad at the hilt, which is of Rhinoceros or buffalo horn, ornamented with silver or gold, and gradually tapers to a point. The blade is two-edged, and at a point beyond the middle forms an angle of about one hundred and twenty degrees. The sheath, generally made of scarlet, and sometimes of dark-colored cloth, is ornamented, like the hilt, with silver or gold. The khunger' is worn in front of the waist, sustained by a strap, which is often richly embroidered.

As we entered, Hamira rose and welcomed us to his house, and, placing chairs for us, immediately ordered cocoanuts to be brought. He and his friends at once opened one or two for each of our party, and we found them very refreshing after our stroll in the sun. The dinner was cleared away by the servants, and Hamìra talked with us upon various subjects. Speaking of his countrymen, he said, at the same time, shaking his head, "Ah! Arab man plenty bad, plenty bad; him cheat you all times, he can."

"The law allows every Arab four wives, pray, Hamìra, how many have you?" asked one of our party.

"Me no got wife now-she die. Now me got one concubine. That very bad, have more than one woman; one wife or one concubine. Suppose you have more, they always fight; suppose live in same house, they fight; suppose live in different house, they fight, and the man can no be happy. The woman very bad for that." Captain Hassan, on the occasion of our speaking upon this subject, expressed the same opinion, and said very few Arabs had more wives than one.

Hamira opened one of his chests, and exhibited sundry boxes of old watches and trinkets; Cashmere shawls, and a small tin kettle, filled with vials and papers of medicine. He showed us also a copy of the Bible and New Testament, in quarto, in Arabic, which, he told us, he had read, saying, "Him very good book, but me like Koran better."

Afterwards he offered us quantities of luscious mangoes, and some oranges: the latter, however, were sour. While eating the fruit, (our only dinner that day,) Hamìra received a letter, which, on account of its form, attracted our attention. It was folded up across the whole sheet, so as to be about an inch wide, and then doubled in the middle, the two ends being bound together by a riband of paper, and sealed with paste. When we sailed for Muscat, the letters sent by us were folded in the same manner, or rolled up as hard as possible,

42

SCHOOL-KORAN-COURT OF JUSTICE.

and the edge pasted, the latter form is in use, almost exclusively, among the Banyans.

On descending to the yard, we entered a small room at one end of it, in which a half dozen children were seated on the floor, à la Turque, reciting lessons, at the top of their voices, in a most unpleasantly nasal and monotonous manner, to an old white-bearded pedagogue, who sat upon the ground hugging his knees. Each pupil was supplied with a board, eight inches broad, and a foot and a half long, on which they were learning to write by the aid of a pointed stick. The only books to be seen were two large copies of the Koran, bound in red velvet, and supported on stands two feet high, so that when they read it, the sacred volume is higher than the girdle, seated as they were. The children were committing verses of it to memory, and after the recitation was over, the book was carefully wrapped in a cloth and carried up stairs. The pedagogue would not allow us to touch it. The Koran is held in the greatest reverence and esteem among all Mohammedans. "They dare not so much as touch it without being first washed or legally purified; which, lest they should do by inadvertence, they write these words on the cover or label, 'Let none touch it, but they who are clean.' They read it with great care and respect, never holding it below their girdles. They swear by it, consult it in their weighty occasions, carry it with them to war, write sentences of it on their banners, adorn it with gold and precious stones, and knowingly suffer it not to be in the possession of any of a different persuasion."

After reaching the street, we stood talking with Hamira for several minutes, and he appeared to be somewhat impatient of our delay. Chairs were presently brought out, and he said, "Suppose you sit down one little, while me go pray-me come back very quick." He was equal to his word: his absence did not exceed five minutes.

Towards sunset we walked to the place of embarkation. Near the old castle a number of persons were collected, waiting for the opening of the court of Justice: its sessions are held, every afternoon after prayer time, at the castle gate, in the open air. It is composed of the governor and three judges, they are very patriarchal-looking gentlemen with long white beards, dirty white gowns and great sabres under their arms; and, to judge from appearances, one would conclude, they had lived from the time of Moses, without washing their vestments or trimming their beards. Two of them were seated upon

Sale's Koran, Philadelphia, 1833.

some boards, beneath a shed, amidst a group of people who seemed to be interested in their remarks. Under the same shed was a beautiful leopard, in a cage, which had been caught only a few days. Such is the simplicity of the court! In the street were several groups of Banyans unarmed, naked negroes, leaning on their spears, and fiercelooking Arabs, resting on their matchlocks, with the left leg crossed behind the right one-all waiting, with seeming indifference, like men of leisure, the arrival of the governor, Prince SEID CARLID. But we could remain no longer, and at sunset returned on board, satisfied that the town of Zanzibar and its inhabitants, possess as few attractions for a Christian stranger as any place and people in the wide world.

CHAPTER V.

SKETCHES IN ZANZIBAR.

September, 1835.

LIKE many islands in the Indian ocean, as well as the Pacific, Zanzibar owes its origin to the labors of a marine animal of diminutive size. When we reflect upon the minuteness of the animals which form coral, and compare with their tiny bulk, the stupendous results of their labors and the hardness of the substance which they produce by a secreting process, we are struck with wonder; and, vainly inquire,-Whence do these animals derive the material for the production of such vast beds of calcareous matter, that they can build up, for hundreds of fathoms in the depths of the ocean, islands capable of sustaining thousands of human inhabitants? So vast are the quantities of calcareous substance produced by the moluscous tribes, that learned men have supposed all the lime found in the earth is derived from their organization and its functions, which seem to be almost inscrutable. The extent of coral formation, without reference to the immense quantities of shells, formed by other molusca, would be sufficient for such a theory; but it is not our purpose

44

POSITION OF ZANZIBAR-PRODUCTS.

to discuss so interesting a question, and we therefore refer our readers, for information on this subject, to the writings of geologists.

The labors of the coral insect present us a variety of formations; some of them solid as rock, which is used at Zanzibar, as well as in other parts of the world, for architectural purposes; some are found resembling trees and plants, and others grow up in the form of fans, irregularly reticulated, and elastic in structure. Their colors are as various as their forms; but the white, which is also solid, or nearly so, most abounds, and is the sort usually found as the basis of coral islands.

The formation of coral islands is interesting. Scarcely does the structure of this ant of the sea, outtop,the surface of the ocean, probably from some volcanic mass upheaved from the bottom, before it becomes covered with soil, which is more or less valuable, according to circumstances. Vegetable remains and seeds are first cast by the waves upon the growing island, which, in time, decay and form earth; in this the seeds take root, and the plants, in their season, perish, and their destruction adds to the soil. Thus, every year produces new accessions, until, as in the present instance, a rich loam, lying deeply on the coral basis, sustains flowers, shrubs, and forest trees, and we behold the island clothed in a luxuriant and beautiful vegetation.

According to Captain Owen's chart, the island of Zanzibar extends between five degrees, forty-three minutes, and six degrees, twenty-eight minutes of south latitude. The latitude of the town, also called Zanzibar by foreigners, but often designated by the inhabitants under the names Hamûz, or Moafilè, or Baur, (which names, however, pertain rather to sections than to the whole town,) is six degrees, ten minutes south, and the longitude thirty-nine degrees and ten minutes east from Greenwich.

Among the vegetable productions of Zanzibar, besides several sorts of hard wood, suited for building and cabinet work, we may mention the cocoanut, mango, jacca, copal, colombo, tobacco, cloves, nutmeg, cassada, banana, &c. &c.

The cocoanut, which belongs to the extensive family of palms, grows in every region within the tropic belt of the globe, and is always a prominent feature in tropical scenery. Its trunk, which is supported by numerous small fibrous roots, rises gracefully, with a slight inclination, from forty to sixty feet in height; it is cylindrical, of middling size, and marked, from the root upwards, with unequal circles or rings, and is crowned by a graceful head of large leaves.

COCOANUT TREE-COPAL.

45

The wood is light and spongy, and therefore cannot be advantageously employed in the construction of ships or solid edifices, though it is used in building huts; vessels made of it are fragile and of little duration; but its fruit, at different seasons, its branches, and its leaves are applied to many useful purposes. The sheath, covering the lowest or first leaf, is used for a sieve; the leaves are used in thatching, for making umbrellas, fans, sails, and even nets, and the very young ones may be substituted for paper. The fruit, or cocoanut, has a filamentous bark, or covering, two or three inches thick, known in commerce as coïr, or kyar, is manufactured into coarse fabrics, and cordage; and it also serves for caulking, and is exclusively used for this purpose throughout the east. The nut contained within this bark is about the size of a small melon, and the shell is converted into cups and other utensils; the pulp, lining the shell, is a wholesome aliment, and yields an excellent oil, used both in cooking and for burning, and, lately, means have been discovered in England of manufacturing it into candles; the oil-cake becomes the food of animals, and, in times of scarcity, of the poor. The centre of this great nut is filled with a clear, somewhat sweet, and cooling fluid, which is equally refreshing to the laborer and traveller. When the nut becomes old, or attains its full maturity, the fluid disappears, and the hollow is filled by a sort of almond, which is the germinating organ; sometimes a calculous concretion is found in its centre, to which peculiar virtues have been attributed. But these are not all the uses of the cocoanut. By cutting off the stems of the bud, before the flowers blow, a white liquor exudes from the cut extremity, which is usually received in a vessel tied there for the purpose; it is called "toddy," and is a very common and much esteemed beverage. By fermentation it is converted into vinegar, which, by distillation, yields a fiery spirit; and, fermented with lime, affords a sort of sugar.*

The copal is described as a large tree. It yields a gum, used in the manufacture of varnish; it is found about the roots, whence it is dug up in large quantities, and is often obtained from places where the tree had grown many years before. The gum is exported to the United States, there manufactured into varnish, and in that form brought round the cape of Good Hope and sold in India.

Among the animals on the island are goats, sheep, Guinea fowls, and domestic fowls, which are very cheap (about a half dollar per

• Establecimientos Ultramarinos, Tom. 1, Madrid, 1784.