CHAPTER I.

BET IL MTONI.

IN BET IL MTONI, THE oldest of our palaces in the island of Zanzibar, I was born, and there I lived until the age of seven.

Bet il Mtoni, distant about five miles from the city of Zanzibar, lies on the sea coast, surrounded by most beautiful scenery, and quite hidden in a grove of palm and mango trees, and other gigantic specimens of tropical vegetation. The house of my birth is called "Mtoni house," after the little river Mtoni, which rises only a few miles inland, runs through the whole palace into numerous fountains, and flows directly behind the palace walls into the splendid and animated inlet which severs the island from the African continent.

Only one large-sized courtyard divides the numerous buildings of Bet il Mtoni, which, on account of their heterogeneous styles, invented as occasion required, with their numberless and puzzling passages, must be called, on the whole, ugly rather than beautiful.

I do not distinctly remember now the arrangement of the vast number of rooms these buildings contained, but I can well recall to my mind the large bathing accommodation at Bet il Mtoni. There were a dozen baths in one row at the extreme end of the courtyard, and in rainy weather these popular resorts could only be reached under the shelter of an umbrella. Apart from them lay what was called the "Persian" bath, a Turkish steam bath, whose ingenious and tasteful architecture was unequalled in Zanzibar.

Each bathing house contained two baths, five yards long by four yards wide, and just deep enough to let the water come up to the breast of a grown-up person.

These refreshing baths were a favourite resort with all people in the house; most of them stayed in them for many hours every day, to pray, sleep, work, and read there, even to take their meals; and from four o'clock in the morning till midnight they were never once empty.

On entering these bath-houses, which are all alike, two raised resting-places may be observed to the right and left for prayer and repose, which are covered with the finest coloured mats. Every other article of luxury, such as carpets, was banished from these rooms. Every Muslim (Mahometan) requires a separate and perfectly clean dress for prayers, intended only for this purpose, and which ought to be quite white. Of course this rather inconvenient religious precept is only followed by extremely devout persons.

The places of repose are separated by narrow arcades from the bath-rooms, which are all in the open air; two arched bridges of stone, with steps gradually rising, lead again to other rooms lying apart.

Each bath-room was allotted to a special set of occupants; woe to the person who did not keep within her proper bounds! A very rigorous spirit of caste ruled at Bet il Mtoni, which was observed by high and low alike.

Tall orange trees, as high as the largest cherry trees in these parts, throve in dense rows in front of the bath-houses; their branches often sheltered us while young, when we were afraid of punishment from our excessively strict teacher.

Man and beast lived amicably together in the large courtyard, without being in the least inconvenienced by each other's presence-peacocks, gazelles, guinea-fowls, flamingoes, geese, ducks, and ostriches roamed about in perfect liberty, and were petted and fed by old and young. We children vastly enjoyed hunting out the many eggs that lay about here and there, especially the large ostrich eggs, and to hand them over to the head cook, who would reward us with presents of sweetmeats.

Twice a day, early in the morning and in the evening, all children above five years of age had riding lessons in this court from one of the eunuchs, during which the members of our little zoological garden roamed about as freely as ever. When we had made sufficient progress in this art, we were each mounted by our father. The boys got permission to choose a horse from the royal stud, while we girls received large white donkeys from Mesket, which are often much more expensive than horses. Of course we were provided with a complete harness for these handsome beasts at the same time.

Our chief amusement in these family houses consisted in taking long rides, as we had neither theatricals nor concerts to entertain us. We frequently had races in the country, which as frequently ended in an accident. Once I nearly lost my life in such a race.

Afraid of being overtaken by my brother Hamdam, I had paid no attention to a very large crooked cocoa tree right in my way, and my forehead had almost come in contact with its stem before I had even noticed it. Quick as thought I threw myself back, and in this way mercifully escaped a horrid death.

The numerous flights of stairs were one of the peculiarities of Bet il Mtoni, which were unusually steep, and had huge steps, apparently made fpr a race of giants. Straight up they went, without a turning or a landing place; one's only assistance a very primitive kind of railing, which, being in constant use, needed as constant repair. I remember even now how all the people living in our wing of the house were frightened one morning when both railings of our stone staircase were found to be missing, and I am yet surprised that of the many persons passing up and down no one came to grief.

Statistics being a thing quite unknown in Zanzibar, nobody of course could tell how many people actually lived in our house. I think I do not exaggerate, however, in estimating the total number of inhabitants at Bet il Mtoni at one thousand. To understand this it must be remembered that great numbers of servants are employed in the East by all people of quality and by those who want to appear rich. At least an equal number of persons were lodged in my father's city palace, Bet il Saliel, or "Strandhouse."

In the wing nearest to the sea at Bet il Mtoni were the apartments of my father, Sejid Said, Imam of Mesket and Sultan of Zanzibar, and those of his principal wife, who was a distant relation of his. He resided, however, only four days a week in the country with us, and the remainder he spent in his city palace, Bet il Sahel. The title "Imam" is a religious dignity, which is but rarely conferred on a sovereign. Originally we owe this distinction to our great-grandfather "Ahmed"; the title has since that time been hereditary in our family, and every member of it is authorized to append it to his signature.

Being one of his younger children I only remember my father with his venerable, snow-white beard. He was above middle height, his features had a very fascinating and engaging expression, and his whole appearance commanded respect. In spite of his warlike propensities and his delight in conquest, he was a model father and sovereign. Justice he valued as the highest of all things, and in this respect he knew no difference of person, not even between one of his own sons and the lowest slave. He humbled himself before God; nor was he self-conceited and proud like so many high-born people. It happened, and not rarely either, that he would ride over by himself to the wedding of a simple slave, who had gained his regard by many years of loyal service, to offer his congratulations to the young couple in person. He always used to call me, "Old woman," as I was very fond of cold milk soup (Arab, "farni"), which is the favourite meal of all our old and toothless people.

My mother was a Circassian by birth, who in early youth had been torn away from her home. Her father had been a farmer, and she had always lived peacefully with her parents and her little brother and sister. War broke out suddenly, and the country was overrun by marauding bands; on their approach the family fled into an underground place, as my mother called it-she probably meant a cellar, which is not known in Zanzibar. Their place of refuge was, however, invaded by a merciless horde, the parents were slain, and the children carried off by three mounted Arnauts. One of these, with her elder brother, soon disappeared out of sight; the other two, with my mother and her little sister, three years old, crying bitterly for her mother, kept together until evening, when they too parted, and my mother never heard any more of the lost ones as long as she lived.

She came into my father's possession when quite a child, probably at the tender age of seven or eight years, as she cast her first tooth in our house. She was at once adopted as playmate by two of my sisters, her own age, with whom she was educated and brought up. Together with them she learnt to read, which raised her a good deal above her equals, who, as a rule, became members of our family at the age of sixteen or eighteen years, or older still, when they had outgrown whatever taste they might once have had for schooling. She could scarcely be called pretty, but she was tall and shapely, had black eyes, and hair down to her knees. Of a very gentle disposition, her greatest pleasure consisted in assisting other people, in looking after and nursing any sick person in the house; and I well remember her going about with her books from one patient to another, reading prayers to them.

She was in great favour with my father, who never refused her anything, though she interceded mostly for others, and, when she came to see him, he always rose to meet her half-way-a distinction he conferred but very rarely. She was as kind and pious as she was modest, and in all her dealings frank and open. She had had another daughter besides myself, who had died quite young. Her mental...