# Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London/Volume 34/On the Comoro Islands

XVIII.—On the Comoro Islands. By Captain Algernon de Horsey, R.N,
Read, June 27, 1864.
The Comoro islands are four in number, and lie nearly midway between the northern extremty of Madagascar and the African coast; Comoro, the largest and highest of the four, giving its name to the group. The others are named respectively, Johanna, Mohilla, and Mayotta, and are all high and of volcanic origin. These islands, except Mayotta, are generally safe of approach for ships, having clear passages between them.
Comoro Island.
Comoro (also called Angazecha) is the northernmost as well as the largest and highest island of the group, its dimensions being ​supposed to be about 35 miles north and south, by about 12 miles east and west. This island is less known than the other three, and even its form is very inaccurately defined: the slightness of our knowledge of Comoro is probably owing to the fact of its not possessing any harbour, nor, as far as we know, a single good anchorage.
Comoro, unlike Johanna and Mohilla, is not under the dominion of a single Sovereign, but is divided into several districts, which each acknowledge an independent chief or Sultan: these petty sovereignties are frequently engaged in war with each other. The natives are a fine race, and of remarkable stature: they appear to be of Arab descent, with an intermixture of Madagascar blood.
There are several towns on the coasts of Comoro, of which the principal are Maroni and Itzanda, on the west side of the island, and Mouchamouli at the N.W. extremity.
Maroni Bay is in lat. 11° 40' 44" S. The town of Maroni is situated at the head of the bay; it is large, and surrounded by a wall; the huts are generally detached, and the streets narrow and dirty. Besides the huts there are several substantial stone buildings. The Sultan of Maroni is the chief of most influence in Comoro, although I believe the district subject to his authority is not large.
Supplies are cheap and plentiful, particularly cattle, which are exported to the other Comoro islands. Water, however, is very scarce all over the island.
Itzanda Bay and Town are about 3 miles northward of Maroni, the two bays being somewhat similar. Itzanda is governed by an independent chief, who does not, however, possess any importance. The town is walled in like Maroni, and is of about the same size.
Comoro Mountain is situated at the south part of the island, its highest part being about 8 miles from the southern extremity. The mean of my observations gave its height to be 8526 feet. The summit of this mountain is smooth and dome-shaped, rising so evenly from the sea on its south side as to give a deceptive idea of its altitude when close to. Its stupendous height will show better at the distance of 25 or 50 miles, and in clear weather it may be seen at more than 100 miles. The upper part is generally obscured by clouds, which occasionally roll away, disclosing the smooth, dark summit at an unlooked-for height, somewhat similar to Lord Dufferin’s description of the appearance of Jan Mayen. This mountain is the more remarkable from the absence of any land of equal height on the opposite coast of Africa, and also on account of its being the highest mountain in the world, as compared with the size of the island. Nevertheless it has remained, I believe, to this day unnoticed by geographers in their comparative tables of mountains.
​Comoro Mountain, and, indeed, the whole island, is volcanic; an eruption is said to have occurred about the year 1830, and again in 1855. In this latter eruption the lava issued from several old places, and also on the more eastern part of the island; it then had the effect of driving several dhows (native vessels) on shore, and of casting a great quantity of fish upon the coasts. Another eruption took place in 1858, on which occasion the lava flowed out of the side of the mountain into the sea on the west coast, between the towns of Maroni and Itzanda, which, being only 3 miles apart, thus narrowly escaped destruction. We saw on our visit in 1861 the lasting effects of this eruption; all trace of vegetation was destroyed where the stream of lava had passed, and a projecting black point of scorious lava, which previously had no existence, had been formed about a mile to the northward of Maroni.
At the south-west point of Comoro ignited sulphurous vapours are said frequently to issue from the crevices in the ground, shewing lights at night to vessels when passing close. The popular belief among the natives is that this part of the island is inhabited by devils, and they will on no account venture in the vicinity at night.
Mohilla Island.
Mohilla is the smallest and least elevated of the Comoro islands, being about 15 miles north-west and south-east, by 7 or 8 miles wide at its broadest part, not including some small islands at the south-west end which extend rather more than 3 miles from shore. Mohilla is about 1,900 feet high; on the east side the land is low near the sea, rising gently to the mountainous ridge running along the middle of the island, which has no peaks, and appears capable of cultivation to its summit. The island is well wooded, the hills being covered with trees to the very top.
Mohilla is at present governed by an independent Queen, who is a niece of Radama I. of Madagascar, and was educated by the French. She is married to a Zanzibar Arab of low caste.
There are two principal towns in Mohilla, viz. Douāny and Numa-Choa. Douāny is a brown, dull-looking, walled town close to the beach a little to the southward of the north-east extremity of Mohilla; it has a solid rampart or platform for a battery of guns along its sea-face. The Queen’s house is near the north-west corner of the town, facing the beach, and has rather the appearance of a casemated barrack. It is in lat. 12° 17' 43" S., long. 43° 46' 42" E. The natives are a peaceably-disposed people, very similar to those of Johanna; the population is not large. The island is very fertile; coffee and spice trees grow luxuriantly in a plantation belonging to the Queen; cocoa-nuts also abound. Cattle are good and cheap.
Johanna Island.
Johanna is next to Comoro in size and in height, but far surpasses it in beauty and fertility. In form it is triangular, the east side running about north and south, and the north side forming a deep bay, in which is situated the town. This island, as seen from the westward, has been aptly compared by Captain Nolloth to a schoolboy’s “comparative view of the mountains of the world,” being a succession of peaks one rising behind the other, and all, including Johanna Peak, being wooded to the top.
Johanna is governed by an independent Sultan, who resides at the town on the north side. The natives are hospitable and well-disposed, particularly to Englishmen, whom they have long been accustomed to look up to as their protectors and advisers when in difficulty. They are of Arab origin, but the lower orders are much intermixed with the African race. The slavery in this island is of a very mild and domestic form, the authority of masters over their slaves being in many cases almost nominal. The population of the island in 1862 did not probably exceed 10,000 souls, including slaves, and of that number nearly a tenth were carried off in the same year by cholera, which appears to have been brought from Mauritius.
The climate of Johanna is on the whole healthy, the shores being nearly everywhere free from mangrove-swamps. The cruizers on this station generally consider this island a sanitarium, as compared with the other parts of East Africa.
Johanna Peak, by the mean of my observations, is 5,177 feet above the sea; it is in about lat. 12° 14' 17" s., long. 44° 27' 34" E., near the centre of the island, being about 5 horizontal miles from Pomony, and 3 from Johanna Town. This peak is of conical form, and probably a thousand feet higher than any of the other ones which surround it. Except in the early morning it is rarely to be seen, being obscured by clouds. From the peak a spur of mountainous land projects towards each of the three ends of the island. Johanna is, like the other Comoros, volcanic, but not actively so now; the traces of former eruptions are very distinct close outside the town of Johanna, where vast accumulations of cinder may be observed cropping out on the road-side.
There is a lake, probably the crater of an extinct volcano, at a considerable elevation in the mountains at the back of Pomony. Four of H.M.S. Brisk’s officers ascended with some difficulty to this lake, but had not the means of corroborating the native report of its being fathomless. The Johanna men hold this lake in superstitious dread, and affirm that there are porcupines, alligators, and extraordinary birds without wings in its vicinity.
Johanna Town, also called Moussamoudou, is on the north side ​of the island in the depth of the bay, about 10 miles from Saddle Island, and about 61/2 from the north-east point. The south-west angle of the town is in lat. 12° 9' 50" S., long. 44° 25' 51" E. The town, which is on low ground close to the sea, is substantially built of stone, with very narrow winding streets, and is surrounded by a wall: it is overlooked by a dilapidated fort or citadel, on a height immediately behind it. The English consulate is a detached building close to the beach, about 300 yards to the westward of the town.
Pomony Harbour is formed by coral-reefs, and situated on the south-west coast of Johanna, about 8 miles from its southern extremity, and about 12 miles from Saddle Island. This harbour is very small, but has good depths of water, and forms a secure anchorage for vessels not exceeding 200 feet in length; at low water the surrounding reefs become dry, and the harbour then resembles a dock.
Trade.—The exports and imports of Johanna in 1856 were estimated at under 10,000l. a year, of which full half is accounted for by the produce of a sugar estate at Pomony, the property of H.M. consul of these islands. There is not much land suited for the growth of sugar, owing to the mountainous character of the island, but what has been produced is of excellent quality. Coffee has but lately been cultivated: the climate and soil are well adapted for it.
The ship arrivals amounted to 50 or 60 a year, principally whalers touching for refreshments. These vessels are charged 15 dollars a year for recruiting and watering as often as they please: other merchant-vessels touching here pay 10 dollars port dues.
Supplies are plentiful at Johanna: the small hump-backed cattle, similar to those of Aden, are of excellent quality, at a cost of 10 to 15 dollars a head. Fowls are also small but cheap. Sweet potatoes, yams, cocoa-nuts, and also fruits and other refreshments, are abundant. A small supply of provisions and coal is kept at Pomony for the use of H.M. ships in the Mozambique.
Mayotta Island.
Mayotta, next to Johanna in dimensions, lies to the south-eastward of that island, leaving a channel between it and the outlying reefs of Mayotta 29 miles wide. This island is of irregular form, 21 miles north and south, with an average breadth of 6 or 7 miles, but if we include the dangerous coral-reefs which surround the island, the whole occupies a space of 30 miles north and south, and 24 miles east and west, and is contained between latitudes 12° 34' and 13° 4' S., and between longitudes 44° 59' 15" and 45° 23' E. The island is remarkable from all points of view; owing to its very uneven surface: volcanic-looking peaks rise in ​all parts, the highest of which is Mavégani mountain, which is situated 7 miles from the southern extremity of the island; it has two peaks close together, of which the westernmost is the highest, being, according to the French Survey, 2164 feet above the sea. The most remarkable mountain is Uchongui, a sugarloaf-peak, which rises at less than 3 miles from the southern extreme of the island, and is said to be 2105 feet above the sea.
Mayotta is said to contain about 8000 inhabitants, of a race similar to the other Comoro islanders. It is now a French colony, a small military and naval establishment, having been formed at Zaudzi some years ago. The island is capable of cultivation in most parts: eight sugar-estates on the eastern side are worked with profit, although labour is in great demand.
In 1855 there was no cultivation on the western side of the island, but roads were being made to it.
Zaudzi Island, in lat. 12° 46' 48" S., long. 45° 20' 14" E., lies to the westward of, and is connected with, Pamauzi Island by a neck of sand, on which a causeway has been constructed. These two islands lie inside the chain of reefs on the east side of Mayotta. At the north-east extreme of Pamauzi there is a lake, apparently the crater of an extinct volcano.
The French establishment is on the island of Zaudzi, and consists of a governor, colonial officers, some artificers and seamen, and about 100 soldiers, besides a few native ones. There are several substantial government-buildings and storehouses, and numerous huts. A supply of provisions and coal is kept here for the troops, and for the French cruisers on this station. The water on Zaudzi is scarce and not good; the establishment is supplied from the main island.
The climate of Mayotta has the reputation of being very unhealthy; the shores of the main island are lined in places with mangrove-swamps, which uncover at low water, and are productive of malaria and fever. In this respect, as well as in others, Mayotta differs from the other Comoro Islands, which are generally considered healthy.