“Nine years ago I made up my mind to write down some sketches of my life for my children, who at that time knew little more about my origin than that I was an Arabian and a native of Zanzibar. Tired out in body and in mind, I did not then expect to live to be able to tell them, when they had grown up, of the many changes in my life, and of the recollections of my youth. I therefore resolved to write my memoirs for them, and this I have done for love and devotion to my children, whose affection b ...