"
EMMA. "We shall cross the equator before we enter another bay; then,
in the parallel of 3 deg. south, lies the Bay of Formosa, on the coast
of Zanguebar; and 4 deg. nearer south, is the little island of Zanzibar.
I am a stranger here."
MRS. WILTON. "Zanzibar is a most valuable possession of the Imaun
of Muscat, on account of its abundant produce of grain and sugar.
The climate is particularly fatal to Europeans, so that the crews of
vessels trading there are never allowed to sleep on shore. But there
is perhaps no place, where refreshments are so cheap as in this
island: fowls may be had for two shillings the dozen, sugar
twopence, and rice one penny a pound; and a large bullock is sold
for one sovereign."
CHARLES. "No great advantage to get food cheap in a country so
unhealthy that you lack the appetite to eat it."
MR. BARRAUD. "No; we will not go there to victual _our_ ship. Here
are the Seychelle Isles almost in the latitude of Formosa Bay;
suppose we ''bout ship' and look in upon them. There appear to be
fifteen, and navigators say they are composed of granite rocks.
Their chief inhabitants are French Roman Catholics, who have very
little of either religion or morality, but spend the greater portion
of their time in dancing and gambling. All the blacks resident on
these isles are unhappy slaves, although their owners live in
luxurious indolence."
GEORGE. "They are such small islands, and some of them so close
that, if I lived there, I would build bridges to go from one island
to another.
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