These dhows are first-rate sailers; they carry one large sail, in shape like a triangle with one corner cut off. But what struck us as very curious was that when tacking, they did not run into the wind’s eye as a European ship does, but they turned the dhow right round before the wind, while shifting the long boom to the other side of the mast. But they sail very close to the wind, and seem excellent sea boats. This form of ship is probably a very ancient one, for vessels very similar in shape and rig are figured on the Egyptian monuments, and most likely the “ships of Tarshish” were only rather large dhows. The largest of these vessels have two masts, the one at the stern being much smaller than the other, and both have a rake forward, instead of aft, as in European ships.
MOJANGÀ
Our spirits rose with the wind, for there had been many prophecies at Màrovoày that we might be a long time on the way, and, in fact, some friends who preceded us by a month or two were actually three nights on the voyage. But we bounded over the waves and soon felt a considerable swell. Bèmbatòka Bay is so wide for a considerable distance that the north-western shore is only faintly visible, but it narrows again towards the mouth, and a line of hills running out to the western point defines its outline very clearly; opposite Mojangà it is about five miles across. Towards noon they pointed out to us a projecting headland, some way ahead to the right, and told us that after rounding that we should see Mojangà. The wind continued strong, but as it got more and more ahead, we had to tack repeatedly. At about half-past three o’clock we reached our destination, casting anchor a quarter of a mile or so from the beach.
CAMELS
Mojangà was a decidedly pretty and picturesque-looking place from the sea, and a much more civilised-looking town than any I had previously seen in Madagascar. Instead of rush and bamboo houses, there was a long line of white flat-topped buildings of two and three storeys, some having castellated battlements. A score or two of dhows were at anchor in the roads, but there was no European vessel in the harbour. Behind the Arab and Indian town the ground rises gently for two hundred or three hundred feet, and at the top of this higher ground is the ròva and Hova town. Between the two, and to the north, is a beautiful park-like expanse, thickly studded with magnificent trees, chiefly mangoes, which here grow to a great size, as well as baobabs, and clumps of cocoanut-palms and a few fan-palms. A fort crowns the crest of the hill to the north; and altogether, we were agreeably surprised with Mojangà. Just as we had cast anchor, we were surprised to see several camels brought down to the sea for a bath. They were imported from Aden some time ago by a French firm, but had not proved a success, commercially, for Madagascar has too damp a climate for animals accustomed to the sand and gravel of the Arabian desert. We had not landed many minutes before our brother missionary, Mr Pickersgill, then stationed at Mojangà, came down and gave us a hearty welcome and every assistance with our baggage, etc. Our little family party found quarters in the verandah of the house of a Madame Beker, very near the shore, while the others went to stay with Mr Pickersgill near the ròva. This house was of coral rock, plastered, but was so hot that we preferred the verandah, which was roofed with fan-palm leaves and surrounded with the same slight materials. We were glad of the quiet and rest we had there for a week after our two or three weeks’ travelling by land and river.
The following morning, Sunday, the mail steamer, Packumba, came in about midday, but left again for Mozambique in the afternoon. On going on board to see the ship we were to sail in, we found that her main deck was arranged so as to take a great number of passengers, the iron plating at the sides all turning up on hinges to allow a free passage of air. I was glad to be able to preach to a large congregation in the native church during the afternoon.
The week at Mojangà passed away rapidly, for we had plenty to do in rearranging and labelling luggage, disposing of our palanquins, bedding, and other no longer needful property, and preparing for our voyage. At this town we found ourselves in quite a different place and surroundings from what we had seen everywhere else in Madagascar. We were in the midst of an Indian and Mohammedan population, the traders here being mostly Banians and a large proportion of them British subjects. Hindoo speech, dress, ornament, and customs met us at every turn, and also those of the Arabs. The houses are chiefly built of coral rock, plastered with lime, and roofed with fan-palm leaves. The door and window openings are made with flat-pointed and zigzagged arches; and when the rooms are wide, a line of piers and arches runs down its length, giving a cool depth of shade quite Eastern in its effect. The doorways have elaborately carved lintels and posts; these are all done at Bombay and brought here ready for fitting. There is a little stone carving also here and there, and Arabic sentences are carved over the doors in some cases. The men are in Indian dress, and the women with nose-jewels, silver armlets and anklets, and the long muslin robe thrown over the head and wound round the body.
ARABIC DRESS AND CUSTOMS
Arabic dress and customs were not less prominent in Mojangà. Close to our lodging was a small mosque, and from the flat roof we could hear the muezzin calling the faithful to prayers five times a day in a long sonorous musical cry—before sunrise, in the forenoon, at noon, at three o’clock, and at sunset, and could see his form silhouetted against the sky, making a number of prostrations when the call was finished. Our stay here was in the month Ramazan, the great fasting-time of the Mohammedans, when they eat and drink nothing all day, at least the strictly orthodox do not. They make up for it, however, at night; and feasting and jollity seemed to be the general employment. Our house adjoining the main street, it was extremely noisy until long after midnight. There is no doubt that the Arabs, and also the Indians, have been settled at Mojangà, as well as at other places on the north-west coast, for centuries. As we have seen in [Chapter XII.], there was an Arab colony at some remote period on the south-east coast, but this was gradually absorbed and lost in the native population and no longer maintains a separate existence. The north-western colony, however, being in constant communication with Suahili land and the Arab element there, has maintained its individuality, and kept its dress, customs, language, and religion quite distinct from the Malagasy around it.
Amongst the magnificent mango-trees in the park are many specimens of the baobab-tree (Adansonia madagascariensis); one of these must be from seventy to eighty feet in girth. The trunks of these trees are of enormous size compared with the small expanse of the branches; and their glossy dark brown bark, their rapid tapering upwards, and their bareness of foliage for the greater part of the year, mark them very distinctly from all others. They are curious in appearance, but not at all beautiful. The bark is used to make rope, and the sap is said to be potable and tasteless; the wood, however, is so soft that it can be pulled away by the fingers.