PREFACE. the Rev. J. Rebmann. However, although one cannot estimate too highly the diligence and linguistic ability displayed by Dr. Krapf and the patient sagacity of Mr. Rebmann, we soon found that, owing partly to the fact of their collections having been made in the dialect of Mombas, and still more to the confused and inexact style of spelling adopted unfortunately by both, their works were of scarcely any use to a mere beginner. I soon after procured copies of the manuscript vocabularies collected by Mr. Witt and Mr. Schultz, then representing the firm of O'Swald and Co. in Zanzibar, and with such help as I could procure from any quarter, I began in July 1865 to print the first pages of my collections for a" Handbook of Swahili as Spoken in Zanzibar." When I had proceeded as far as page 33, I made the acquaintance of Hamis wa Tani and of his son Mohammed, both of them well acquainted with English and French, and of pure Swahili extraction. To the disinterested kindness of Mohammed, who, while confined to his house by sickness, allowed me to spend every Saturday morning in questioning him about his language, I owe all that is best in my knowledge of African tongues. With his help and revision I completed the list of substantives, and found my way through the intricacies of the adjectives and pronouns. Of how much importance an accurate guide in these matters would be may be seen from the" Table of Concords," first printed in Zanzibar, in a form suggested by Bishop Tozer, and now reprinted as part of this volume.