"The dhow and the steamship symbolised the struggle for control of Zanzibar's economy. The dhows were the craft which carried the triangular trade on seasonal winds between Arabia, East Africa and India. The colonial government saw dhows as a threat to their wish to modernise Zanzibar's economy." "Erik Gilbert compares the resilience of the dhow economy, with its ingenious evasions of government control and taxation, to the informal or second economy of the post-colonial era."--Jacket.