602 x 145 mm. Panoramic view composed of three joined prints. A view from the harbour looking south towards the waterfront of the Zanzibar Town. To the left of centre stands the Beit Al Ajeib ('House of Wonders') with the Sultan's Palace to the right. The Beit Al Ajeib was built for Seyyid Barghash, Sultan of Zanzibar 1870-1888, in 1883, for ceremonial rather than residential purposes. In 1886 when Sayyid Khalid briefly usurped the throne the waterfront was bombarded: the clocktower seen at the front of the building was erected to replace a lighthouse badly damaged during the bombardment. From 1911 the building housed government offices when the Sultan took up residence in Sir Lloyd William Mathews' old house next door. In the centre of the picture are the Old Consulate buildings, in use until 1874, when they were superseded by the building on the extreme right on Shangani Point called the Mambo Msiige. The Old Consulate of the period was used on the godown of Smith, Mackenzie and Co. On the skyline behind the waterfront the twin spires of the Roman Catholic Cathedral (built between 1897 and 1900) can be seen.