Memoirs of an Arabian Princess | Page 4

the platforms and the
basins, which were uncovered except for the blue vault of heaven.
Arched stone bridges and steps led to other, entirely separate
apartments. Each bath-house had its own public; for, be it known, a
severe system of caste ruled at Bet il Mtoni, rigidly observed by high
and low.
Orange trees, as tall as the biggest cherry trees here in Germany,
bloomed in profusion all along the front of the bath-houses, and in their
hospitable branches we frightened children found refuge many a time
from our horribly strict school-mistress! Human beings and animals
occupied the vast courtyard together quite amicably, without disturbing
each other in the very least; gazelles, peacocks, flamingoes, guinea
fowl, ducks, and geese strayed about at their pleasure, and were fed and
petted by old and young. A great delight for us little ones was to gather
up the eggs lying on the ground, especially the enormous ostrich eggs,
and to convey them to the head-cook, who would reward us for our
pains with choice sweetmeats.
Twice a day, early in the morning and again in the evening, we children
- those of us who were over five years old - were given riding lessons
by a eunuch in this courtyard, without at all disturbing the tranquillity
of our animal friends. As soon as we had attained sufficient skill in the
equestrian art, our father presented us with beasts of our own. A boy
would be allowed to pick out a horse from the Sultan's stables, while
the girls received handsome, white Muscat mules, richly caparisoned.
Riding is a favourite amusement in a country where theatres and
concerts are unknown, and frequently races were held out in the open,
which but too often would end with an accident. On one occasion a
race nearly cost me my life. In my great eagerness not to be outstripped
by my brother Hamdan, I galloped madly onward without observing a
huge bent palm tree before me; I did not become aware of the obstacle

until I was just about to run my head against it, and, threw myself back,
greatly terrified, in time to escape a catastrophe.
A peculiar feature of Bet il Mtoni were the multitudinous stairways,
quite precipitous and with steps apparently calculated for Goliath. And
even at that you went straight on, up and up, with never a landing and
never a turn, so that there was scarcely any hope of reaching the top
unless you hoisted yourself there by the primitive balustrade. The
stairways were used so much that the balustrades had to be constantly
repaired, and I remember how frightened everybody was in our wing,
one morning, to find how both rails had broken down during the night,
and to this very day I am surprised that no accident occurred on those
dreadful inclines, with so many people going up and down, the round
of the clock.
[Photograph by Coutinho Brothers, Zanzibar]
THE SULTAN'S PALACE TO-DAY
Statistics being a science unfamiliar to the inhabitants of Zanzibar, no
one knew exactly how many persons lived at the palace of Bet il Mtoni,
but were I to hazard an estimate, I think I should not be exaggerating if
I put the total population at a thousand. Nor will this large number
seem excessive if one considers that whoever wants to be regarded as
wealthy and important in the East must have an army of servants. No
less populous, in fact, was my father's town palace, called Bet il Sahel,
or Shore House. His habit was to spend three days a week there, and
the other four at Bet il Mtoni, where resided his principal wife, once a
distant relative.
My father, Seyyid Sa•d, bore the double appellation of Sultan of
Zanzibar and Imam of Muscat, that of Imam being a religious title and
one originally borne by my great-grandfather Ahmed, a hereditary title,
moreover, which every member of our family has a right to append to
his signature.
As one of Seyyid Sa•d's youngest children, I never knew him without
his venerable white beard. Taller in stature than the average, his face

expressed remarkable kindness and amiability though at the same time
his appearance could not but command immediate respect. Despite his
pleasure in war and conquest, he was a model for us all, whether as
parent or ruler. His highest ideal was justice, and in a case of
delinquency he would make no distinction between one of his own sons
and an ordinary slave. Above all, he was humility itself before God the
Almighty; unlike so many of great estate, arrogant pride was foreign to
his nature, and more than once, when a common slave of long and
faithful service took a wife, my father would have a horse saddled, and
ride off alone to