27th March, 1866.—­The point of land which on the north side of the entrance to the harbour narrows it to about 300 yards is alone called Pemba; the other parts have different names.  Looking northwards from the point, the first hundred yards has ninety square houses of wattled daub; a ruin (a mosque) has been built of lime and coral.  The whole point is coral, and the soil is red, and covered over with dense tropical vegetation, in which the baobab is conspicuous.  Dhows at present come in with ease by the easterly wind which blows in the evening, and leave next morning, the land wind taking them out.

While the camels and other animals are getting over their fatigues and bad bruises, we are making camels’ saddles, and repairing those of the mules and buffaloes.  Oysters abound on all the rocks and on the trees over which the tide flows:  they are small, but much relished by the people.

The Arabs here are a wretched lot physically—­thin, washed-out creatures—­many with bleared eyes.

29-30th March, 1866.—–­ This harbour has somewhat the shape of a bent bow or the spade on a playing-card, the shaft of the arrow being the entrance in; the passage is very deep, but not more than 100 yards wide, and it goes in nearly S.W.; inside it is deep and quite secure, and protected from all winds.  The lands westward rise at once to about 200 feet, and John, a hill, is the landmark by which it is best known in coming along the coast—­so say the Arabs.  The people have no cattle, but say there are no tsetse flies:  they have not been long here, i.e. under the present system; but a ruin on the northern peninsula or face of the entrance, built of stone and lime—­Arab-fashion, and others on the north-west, show that the place has been known and used of old.  The adjacent country has large game at different water pools, and as the whole country is somewhat elevated it probably is healthy.  There is very little mangrove, but another enclosed piece of water to the south of this probably has more.  The language of the people here is Swaheli; they trade a little in gum-copal and Orchilla weed.  An agent of the Zanzibar custom-house presides over the customs, which are very small, and a jemidar acknowledging the Sultan is the chief authority; but the people are little superior to the natives whom they have displaced.  The jemidar has been very civil to me, and gives me two guides to go on to Adonde, but no carriers can be hired.  Water is found in wells in the coral rock which underlies the whole place.

4th April, 1866.—­When about to start from Pemba, at the entrance to the other side of the bay one of our buffaloes gored a donkey so badly that he had to be shot:  we cut off the tips of the offender’s horns, on the principle of “locking the stable-door when the steed is stolen,” and marched.  We came to level spots devoid of vegetation, and hard on the surface, but a deposit of water below allowed the camels to sink up to their bodies through