Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1889-06-27


their food is one cent and a quarter pei
day. 1t does not seem possible for an,
person to subsist on so small an allowanc.
end how they manage to live and pul
through the day on this fractional sum
aE at a loss to determine, but their work
is a. bad as their pay is low. unless under
the personal eye of their master
When their condition is taken into con.
sideration It is not surprising that rAcy
are indolent; the way they live i certain
y connndrum. The slave quarters in
Zanzibar are something more revolving
than eyer have seen provided for both
sexes IN any part OF the world where there
was tyne Of slavery. among people whc
make any prctcnsion> to ci, ,ilization Men
women and children young and old. bows
and girls all sleep together in one room
without bed or covering. No attention l.
paid by their owners They must give au
account for every day. Their master looks
ont 70 have them hired and nothing else
He neither provides them with food nor
shelter; the heavens is supposed to be GOV
ering sufficient for them. and the earth
soft enough for their bed. Not the least
attention is paid 10 the most ordinary pro-
| pricties OF life: vice with them il no crime
a. they have no knowledge of any better
state and no inclination to improve
| The English mission has established a
school and church especially for their i'm
/ provcment. and some three hundred of the
/ natives. both slaves and free have been
4 brought under this influence into a crude
T state Of civilization but the display II in
telect i not one of their prominent feat
urcS Some of them especially the girls
from eight to twelve years are a. fine look
IN. blacks A. have ever seen. with intclii.
gent features and ~hapcly heads They 40
not become saints very rapidly under all the
boosted Influence Of tile British siisSiou.
which furnish them not only with free
education, but comfortable quarters 10 live
In The transfer of slaves from rnt own
cr TO another ~ an article OF merrhan-
di>c.i- very rare a. they are seldom sold Or
traded away even FOR debt The sale ~
half dozen slaves in Zanzibar from one
ON ncr to another after they had been sold
once as slaves. would hc almo-, without
precedent
The city u Zanzibar j. situated on The
west side Of Zanzibar Island and coutains
one hundred thousand Inhabitants and the
island contains A. many more. Not more
than onc-half Of those people. nifty thous-
and are the Sultan> subjects. nearly one
third are British subjects. Cogcr Indians
and Hirdoo-. and slmos, all the wealthy
merchants are to be found among these
people There j. not one Arab merchant
Of prominence in the whole place the
French AID German Europeans mahc ~
the balance The reefs are Very narrow,
only one street of sufficient width 70
drive carriage, and even then II you
chance ID meet one which i Very rare,
YOU are Obliged to pun yourself together in
a. small parcel as possible with Your
back against the wall NJ building to
make room for the carriage to pass, or I;
will - over YOU othcr streets are &. I.
: ann 9 feet wide without lights and With
buildings three and fonr -toric, high. In
the night time 1t is impossible for one g.
find nj, way Or tell where he i going un-
les he J. pilot in such darkness. The
Arabs ami natives are the only people IN
Zanzibar Who ran own slaves a. ihc rc>I'"c-
tive countries to which the other population
belong prohibit them from doing -. The
city cannot boast OF even one High school;
Primar, schools are s. high a one can adj
vance in the attainment Of an education
unless by private tutor. which is re>ortcd
to by most Of the wealthy Indians. The
best and almost the only school OF any
Importance j.. that attached % the Eng
li>h mission There are no parks or pub
lic places II any description, nor a theatre
in the place; the only vacant lot i that IN
front Of the palsce where the band plays
Al night to amuse the Sultan and hi>
wives There j. however in the centre Of
the city place surrounded by high "ail,
where the Sultan resorts with his honsr-
hold. to refresh himself with bath, hut
this j. not open to the public II j. said
that the late Sultan said Buiga>hl vito
has been dead some ten months, rrsorted
to thi, place during the hottest days Of
summer with thirty I" forty Of his wives
and would spend the day plunaing IN the
great bath learning his favorltes how 70
swim as no human eye, however, never %
much as caught glimpse Of what va, -
ing on inside during his Highncs> stay
there. this must be something Of a sur
mise.
The absolute seclu,ion of the ladies and
their exclusion from all society are another
strange feature in civilized life. The
Arab. Hindoo and Coger Indian never al
low their wives to be seen. The Arab
/ and Hindoo allow them on the street, but
! they must cover their faces, while the
+ Coger Indian never allows his wife to 90
out on the street unless in closed carri, ge,
and only allows Europeans to see her face
/ but the absolute seclusion from some peo-
pie makes them shy of all classes, and ii Is
rarely, If ever. you can see more of them
/ than to catch glimpse Of their usually
pretty faces, through some open window.
| Even then if they observe you looking Mt
them they withdraw. There is very little
/ if any attention paid to the girls education
| as they are never allowed in public, il is
supposed that the female education is Who'll
ly unnecessary. They do, in fact, have
ve.y little use for education the way they
are situated The house tops, which are
perfectly fiat with wall round the edge,
are where the ladies take their morning
and evening promenade.
The Sultan has one sister said, to be a
very beautiful woman, who some years
ago got into a Irritation with German Of
fcer from the roof of her house. which
lead to an elopement and marriage. She
become christian and few years ago
her husband died in Berlin where they
were living. A short time after she re-
turned with her daughter. beautiful
Young lady of II, to Zanzibar for the pur-
pose of claiming some portion of her faith
er's property The Sultan hearing of hel
arrival in the city offered $1,000 for her