Each Was To
Receive One Year's Pay In Advance, And The Remainder When Their
Work Was Completed.
While this enlistment was going on here, Ladha Damji, the
customs' master, was appointed to collect a hundred pagazis
(Wanyamuezi porters) to carry each a load of cloth, beads, or
brass wire to Kaze, as they do for the ivory merchants.
Meanwhile, at the invitation of the Admiral, and to show him some
sport in hippopotamus-shooting, I went with him in a dhow over to
Kusiki, near which there is a tidal lagoon, which at high tide is
filled with water, but at low water exposes sand islets covered
with mangrove shrub. In these islets we sought for the animals,
knowing they were keen to lie wallowing in the mire, and we
bagged two. On my return to Zanzibar, the Brisk sailed for the
Mauritius, but fortune sent Grant and myself on a different
cruise. Sultan Majid, having heard that a slaver was lying at
Pangani, and being anxious to show his good faith with the
English, begged me to take command of one his vessels of war and
run it down. Accordingly, embarking at noon, as soon as the
vessel could be got ready, we lay-to that night at Tombat, with a
view of surprising the slaver next morning; but next day, on our
arrival at Pangani, we heard that she had merely put in to
provision there three days before, and had let immediately
afterwards. As I had come so far, I thought we might go ashore
and look at the town, which was found greatly improved since I
last saw it, by the addition of several coralline houses and a
dockyard. The natives were building a dhow with Lindi and
Madagascar timber. On going ashore, I might add, we were
stranded on the sands, and, coming off again, nearly swamped by
the increasing surf on the bar of the river; but this was a
trifle; all we thought of was to return to Zanzibar, and hurry on
our preparations there. This, however, was not so easy: the sea
current was running north, and the wind was too light to propel
our vessel against it; so, after trying in vain to make way in
her, Grant and I, leaving her to follow, took to a boat, after
giving the captain, who said we would get drowned, a letter, to
say we left the vessel against his advice.
We had a brave crew of young negroes to pull us; but, pull as
they would, the current was so strong that we feared, if we
persisted, we should be drawn into the broad Indian Ocean; so,
changing our line, we bore into the little coralline island,
Maziwa, where, after riding over some ugly coral surfs, we put in
for the night. There we found, to our relief, some fisherman, who
gave us fish for our dinner, and directions how to proceed.
Next morning, before daylight, we trusted to the boat and our
good luck.
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