Note 87 — Chapter VIII · ETHNOLOGY OF ZANZIBAR. THE FOREIGN RESIDENTS.

I have been much amused by the comments of the press upon the expenses of minor officials living abroad, as elicited from Ministers and Chargés d’Affaires by the Diplomatic Committee of 1870. There seems to be a deeply-rooted idea in the British brain that, because heavily taxed, our native island is the most expensive of residences. On the contrary, I have even found England the cheapest country, and London the cheapest capital in Europe. At Fernando Po my outlay was never less than £1800; at Santos (Brazil) it was £1500; at Damascus, from £1200 to £2000, and so forth.