Zanzibar: City, Island and Coast

Rating:
Summary: All things Zanzibar, circa 1850s
Review: "Zanzibar: City, Island, and Coast" by Richard F. Burton is a well-titled book. It describes Burton's exploration at a time when a good part of the East African mainland was more-or-less under the control of the Omani rulers of Zanzibar, after they had moved their capital from Oman, begun the cultivation of cloves, and achieved control of the East African slave trade. Burton made the journey in 1857, however publication of the book was delayed until 1871 (he shares his ideas as to why). Burton begins with a valuable review of "How the Nile Question Stood in 1856", which summarizes the various theories about the source of the Nile at that time, a question which he and his colleague John Hanning Speke played large parts in solving. The book continues in typical Burton fashion: observations on Zanzibar city, its fauna and flora, industry ("closely akin to nil"), government, rulers, foreign residents, and the ethnology of the "Arabs" and "Wasawahili and Slave Races". Continuing on the East African mainland (present Kenya and mainland Tanzania) he covers the city of "Mombasah", as well as the geography and ethnology of the interior. Much has changed since Burton's time, especially the spellings of places and peoples. The book closes with a touching biographical chapter about the aforementioned John Hanning Speke. Appendixes cover "Commercial Matters at Zanzibar" (exports, imports, prices); "Thermometric Observations in East Africa"; "Meteorological Observations"; etc. This is a very good book for those interested in first-hand accounts of exploration or East African history, but it is not an introduction to the subject.

Rating:
Summary: All things Zanzibar, circa 1850s
Review: "Zanzibar: City, Island, and Coast" by Richard F. Burton is a well-titled book. It describes Burton's exploration at a time when a good part of the East African mainland was more-or-less under the control of the Omani rulers of Zanzibar, after they had moved their capital from Oman, begun the cultivation of cloves, and achieved control of the East African slave trade. Burton made the journey in 1857, however publication of the book was delayed until 1871 (he shares his ideas as to why). Burton begins with a valuable review of "How the Nile Question Stood in 1856", which summarizes the various theories about the source of the Nile at that time, a question which he and his colleague John Hanning Speke played large parts in solving. The book continues in typical Burton fashion: observations on Zanzibar city, its fauna and flora, industry ("closely akin to nil"), government, rulers, foreign residents, and the ethnology of the "Arabs" and "Wasawahili and Slave Races". Continuing on the East African mainland (present Kenya and mainland Tanzania) he covers the city of "Mombasah", as well as the geography and ethnology of the interior. Much has changed since Burton's time, especially the spellings of places and peoples. The book closes with a touching biographical chapter about the aforementioned John Hanning Speke. Appendixes cover "Commercial Matters at Zanzibar" (exports, imports, prices); "Thermometric Observations in East Africa"; "Meteorological Observations"; etc. This is a very good book for those interested in first-hand accounts of exploration or East African history, but it is not an introduction to the subject.