It will not be easy properly to fill this appointment. Without taking into consideration the climate, it is evident that few Englishmen are prepared to settle for long years at remote Zanzibar, and Arabs do not care to trust new men. Yet it would be the acme of short-sightedness to neglect this part of East Africa. Our Anglo-Indian subjects, numbering about 4000[[85]] in the dominions of Zanzibar, some of them wealthy men, are entitled to protection from the Arab, and more especially from the Christian merchants. Almost the whole foreign trade, or at least four-fifths of it, passes through their hands; they are the principal shopkeepers and artisans, and they extend as far South as Mozambique, Madagascar, and the Comoro Islands. During the last few years the number of Indian settlers has greatly increased, and they have obtained possession from the Arabs, by purchase or mortgage, of many landed estates in the Sayyid’s dominions. The country can look forward only to a moderate development whilst it continue in the present hands, but the capabilities of the coast are great. Labour only is wanted; and a European power establishing itself upon the mainland—this object has frequently been proposed, and is steadily kept in view—could in a few years command a territory and a commerce which would rival Western India.
The other white residents are commercial, and it is with no little astonishment that the Englishman finds no direct trade with Great Britain, and meets none of his fellow-countrymen at Zanzibar.[[86]] Their absence results not from want of venture or dearth of business, but from supineness on the part of the authorities. No merchant can profitably settle where he cannot freely correspond, receive advices that ships have been despatched, and obtain orders for cargoes and consignments. Moreover, large sums have been wasted by respectable houses in settling here trustworthy agents and sober men. The few favourable exceptions found the climate either unendurable or fatal. Hitherto, however, Englishmen have done little, and, I write it unwillingly, Englishwomen have done less, for the honour of the national name at Zanzibar than in most parts of the East. Two girls came out to the Island, married to the usual ‘black princes,’ who mostly turn out to be barbers or domestic servants; this proceeding greatly scandalized the white residents, and the Desdemonas gave more trouble to the officials than the whole colony.
The principal American houses are those of Messrs Bertram & Co., represented by Captain Mansfield, Mr Ropes, and Mr Webb: Messrs Rufus Green & Co., also of Salem, have three agents, Messrs Winn, Spalding, and Wilkins. Lastly, there is Mr Samuel Masury, of Salem, a ‘general merchant,’ distinguished for probity and commercial sagacity: he left Zanzibar during our exploration of the interior, and he presently came to an untimely end.
The French houses began with a misconception, a certain chancellier having reported officially to his Government, that 232 ships annually visited and loaded at Zanzibar. The intelligence caused considerable excitement: it was believed that every vessel left these shores crammed with copal, ivory, and gold dust, and the French merchants resolved by concurrence to drive the Americans out of the field. Messrs Vidal frères of Marseille despatched accordingly to Zanzibar Messrs Bauzan, Wellesley, and Peronnet, and appointed M. Mass their second agent at Lamu. They were opposed by Messrs Rabaud frères, also of Marseilles, a house from whom we received especial kindness: their Zanzibar manager was M. Hannibal Bérard, and M. Terassin was sent to the ‘bone of contention,’ Lamu. These firms choose their employés amongst their captains, who act supercargoes as well as commanders; they are estimable men, sober and skilful, but painfully lax in dealing with ‘les nègres.’ Their Consul publicly declared that it was his duty to curb the merchants, as well as to protect the commerce of France.
The specialty of the French houses is oil. They export the cocoa-nut in various forms, sesamum and other oleaginous grains, which Provence converts with such energy and success into huile d’olives. The sesamum is a comparatively new article of commerce, yet the Periplus (chap. xiv.) numbers Elæon Sesáminon (oil of sesamum) amongst the imports from India. Now it is supplied chiefly by Lamu. Vast quantities could be grown there, but the natives, though large advances have been offered to them, will not extend their cultivation for fear of lowering the price, which has lately doubled. French ships now visit the West Coast of India as far North as Kurrachee, in search of sesamum, and last year (1856) 27 vessels took cargo from Bombay.
At length the Marseille houses found out that Zanzibar is overstocked with buyers; that demand in these regions does not readily, at least, create supply; that it is far easier to dispose of than to collect a cargo; that the African man will not work as long as he can remain idle, and that sure profits are commanded only by the Banyan system; briefly, the two French houses are eating up each other. The Messrs Vidal are named for a loss of $400,000, which it will be impossible to recoup. It is also reported that too sanguine M. le Chancellier was threatened with a procès-verbal; of his 232 ships 70 were whalers, many names had been twice registered, and only 32 (232 minus 200) took in cargo.
The houses from Hamburg, that ‘Carthage of the Northern Seas,’ conclude the list of Europeans. The brothers Horn and M. Quas, agents for Messrs Herz and Co., are the most successful copal cleaners; they find it more economical to keep a European cooper than to depend upon the bazar. Messrs William and Albert Oswald, British protégés, represent their father; they are assisted by M. Witt, an intelligent young man, who having graduated in Californian gold-fields, proposes to prospect the Coast. M. Koll acts for Messrs Hansing and Co., and, lastly, M. Reich, lately returned to the Island, is the representative of Messrs Müller and Co.
Europeans are, as a rule, courteously treated by the upper classes, and civilly by the Arabs at Zanzibar; this, however, is not always the case on the Coast. They are allowed to fly flags; every merchant has his staff upon his roof, and there is a display of bunting motley as in the Brazil. Even a Cutch boat will carry the Sayyid’s plain red colours, with the Union Jack in the corner, and the Turkish crescent and star in the centre.
Composed of patch-work material, the Europeans do not unite, and their disputes, especially between compatriots, are exasperated by commercial rivalries, which have led to serious violations of faith. All is wearisome monotony: there is no society, no pleasure, no excitement; sporting is forbidden by the treacherous climate, and, as in West Africa and the Brazil, strangers soon lose the habit of riding and walking. Moreover, the merchants, instead of establishing the business hours of Bombay, make themselves at home to their work throughout the day; this is the custom of the Bonny River, where supercargoes are treated like shopkeepers by the negroes. European women, I repeat, seldom survive the isolation and the solitary confinement to which not only the place but also the foul customs of the people condemn them.
The necessaries of life at Zanzibar are plentiful, if not good. Bread of imported wheat is usually ‘cooked’ in the house, and the yeast of sour toddy renders it nauseous and unwholesome. There have been two bakers upon the Island: one served at the Consulate, the other, a Persian, was in the employment of the Prince. Meat is poor; a good preserved article would here make cent. per cent. Poultry is abundant, tasteless and unnutritious; fish is also common, but it is hardly eatable, except at certain seasons. Cows’ milk is generally to be had, but the butter is white, and resembles grease; fruit must be bought at the different bazars early in the morning. All such articles as tea, wine, and spirits, cigars, tobacco, and sweetmeats, are imported from America or from Europe,—the town supplies nothing so civilized. Retail dealing is wanted, and the nearest approach to a shop is the store of a Khojah, who will buy and sell everything, from a bead to a bale of cloth.