GE. FROM NAPLES TO THE RED SEA, WITH A FEW
SIDE LIGHTS ON INDIAN OCEAN TRAVEL

Lion hunting had not been fraught with any great hardships or dangers up
to this time. The Mediterranean was as smooth as a mill-pond, the Suez
Canal was free from any tempestuous rolling, and the Red Sea was placid
and hot. After some days we were in the Indian Ocean, plowing lazily
along and counting the hours until we reached Mombasa. Perhaps after
that the life of a lion hunter would be less tranquil and calm.

The _Adolph Woermann_ was a six-thousand-three-hundred-ton ship, three
years old, and so heavily laden with guns and ammunition and steel rails
for the Tanga Railway that it would hardly roll in a hurricane. There
were about sixty first-class passengers on board and a fair number in
the second class. These passengers represented a dozen or so different
nationalities, and were bound for all sorts of places in East, Central,
and South Africa. Some were government officials going out to their
stations, some were army officers, some were professional hunters, and
some were private hunters going out "for" to shoot.

There were also a number of women on board and some children. I don't
know how many children there were, but in the early morning there seemed
to be a great number.

These Indian Ocean steamers are usually filled with an interesting lot
of passengers. At first you may only speculate as to who and what they
are and whither they are bound, but as the days go by you get acquainted
with many of them and find out who nearly everybody is and all about
him. On this steamer there were several interesting people. First in
station and importance was Sir Percy Girouard, the newly appointed
governor of British East Africa, who was going out to Nairobi to take
his position. Sir Percy is a splendid type of man, only about forty-two
years old, but with a career that has been filled with brilliant
achievements. He was born in Canada and was knighted in 1900. He looks
as Colonel Roosevelt looked ten years ago, and, in spite of a firm,
definite personality of great strength, is also courteous and kindly. He
has recently been the governor of northern Nigeria, and before that time
served in South Africa and the Soudan. It was of him that Lord Kitchener
said "the Soudan Railway would never have been built without his
services."

The new governor was accompanied by two staff officers, one a Scotchman
and the other an Irishman, and both of