A NIGHT IN ZANZIBAR

Evening Star, Issue 20137, 30 March 1929, Page 4

A NIGHT IN ZANZIBAR

“THE HOUSE OF WONDERS M SULTAN GIVES A OAHCE • EAST AND WEST ASSEMBLE. Zanzibar, the strangest, richest island of its size in the world, has not changed much since the slave days; and when the Sultan gives a dance people far away on the mainland of Ea.st Africa answer the call gladly (says L. G., writing in the ‘Daily Express’). The forma! printed invitation to lire palace is realty a passport from the twentieth century to the Arabian Nights’ entertainment. Bored white officials and their wives in the swelterin a; seaports of Dar-es-Salaam and Mombasa lind a new interest in Jits when a dance is to be held in Zanzibar. The Sultan’s own little steamer Cupid, flying the red flag of the is land, collects the guests. Lunch rs served under the double awnings in the stern; and from the hold comes the fragrance of many cargoes o! cloves. Eight hours after leaving the lagoon of Dar-es-Salaam the Cupid is steering through the fleet of dhows in the roadstead of Zanzibar. MULTI-COLOURED SAILS. For a thousand years these graceful craft, with their multi-coloured saiK an i high poops, have been carrying rich treasures of the Orient to the great trading metropolis of Zanzibar. The white-painted Cupid, with the smoke pouring from her yellow iuniisl, seems an anachronism. The anchor flashes down through water so pure that in daylight you can see the flukes of the anchor gripping the coral seafloor. .Lights gleam along the waterfront, whore the palace stands at the edge of that teeming rabbit-warren known as Malindi bazaar.

Out to the Cupid comes the Sultan’s barge. No chained slaves strain at the oars, for this is a richly-canopied motor launch. The guests disembark—men in white mess jackets of the tropics, women in gay wraps. In chattering groups they stroll from the beach toward the huge marble veran dah and crumbling coral facade of the palace. This palace, named in Arabic the Betci-Ajaib, or House of Wonders, has boon shelled by Rritish gunboats, it has seen international intrigues, aim, until recently, it was the home of an enormous harem. The barred window* and high walls remain, but the present Sultan. Snyed bin Harib, has only one wife. In front of the palace is the Place of Execution, where many a mutinous head has fallen under the ax j . DECORATED RICKSHAWS. To-night the macabre scenes of other days are forgotten in the brilliant hospitality of the peace-loving Sultan. Just inside the carved yloOnvay of the palace the guests are being received by thu Sultan's aide-de-camp, who is a British official. Wealthy Arab merchants arrive in ncksbaws decorated with gold and silver. A few white people drive up m their tiny motor cars-— they must Le tiny, for the widest street in Zanzibar is a narrow alleyway. Tiie hall is perfumed with attar of roses. At y o’clock a mellow gong is heard, and the cosmopolitan throng goes in to dinner. There are tables set in European fashion for the white guests, and nigs worth a fortune on which the Orientals gravely rest. While the conventional English tot'd |S served at the tables, great silver dishes of curry and rice, with marvellous flavourings, and cut-glass bowls of mangoes and tropical fruits, are set down before the wise old men on the rugs. Finally, the Sultan’s famous coffee is handed round, and soon afterwards the dancing begins. The dance hall, under its domed ceiling, .shines with ancient golden candelabras. Along tbo walls are mysterious doors, studded with I atterned brass. The Askari orchestra breaks into an old-fashioned waltz. Twenty men, wearing red ’ fezzes and red sashes, light shorts, and blue puttees, arc playing brass instruments. SULTANA A HIDDEN WATCHER. The Sultan, a magnificent figure in his turban, robes of gold and pointed slippers, docs not dance. With his young son. Ali, who nears a modern dinner jacket, lie is an interested watcher. The Sultana, forbidden by the Mohammedan faith to appear in the sight of men, gazes down on the dancers from a. screened balcony. Most of the white people of Zanzibar are present—the British Resident and other officials in uniform; naval officers in blue and gold from the cruiser in the bay; cable men and heads of trading firms. And a solemn decorous gathering of Moslems, Sikhs, Parsecs, and Goanese. After the dance, Jong after midnight, little parties seek the quiet beaches where blue-gold fireflies hover among the palms. In the warm shallows they bathe and forget that Africa was over cruel.