ntly seen, and one entirely forgets that one is several thousand
miles from home and only a few blocks from the jungles of equatorial
Africa. We dreaded Mombasa before we arrived, but were soon agreeably
disappointed to find it not only beautiful and interesting, but also
pleasantly cool and full of most hospitable social life.

When our ship anchored off Kilindini there was a great crowd assembled
on the pier. There were many smart looking boats, manned with uniformed
natives, that at once came out to the ship, and we knew that the town
was _en fete_ to welcome the newly appointed governor, Sir Percy
Girouard.

He and his staff landed in full uniform. There were addresses of welcome
at the pier, a great deal of cheering and considerable photographing.
Then the rest of the passengers went ashore and spent several hours at
the custom house. All personal luggage was passed through, and we
embarked on a little train for Mombasa. The next day we registered our
firearms and had Smith, Mackenzie and Company do the rest. This firm is
ubiquitous in Mombasa and Zanzibar. They attend to everything for you,
and relieve you from much worry, vexation and rupees. They pay your
customs duties, get your mountains of stuff on the train for Nairobi,
and all you have to do is to pay them a commission and look pleasant.
The customs duty is ten per cent. on everything you have, and the
commission is five per cent. But in a hot climate, where one is apt to
feel lazy, the price is cheap.

Thanks to the governor, our party of four was invited to go to Nairobi
on his special train. It left Mombasa on the morning of the nineteenth
of September, and at once began to climb toward the plateau on which
Nairobi is situated, three hundred and twenty-seven miles away. We had
dreaded the railway ride through the lowlands along the coast, for that
district has a bad reputation for fever and all such ills. But again we
were pleasantly disappointed. The country was beautiful and interesting,
and at four o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at Voi, a spot that is
synonymous with human ailments. It is one of the famous ill health
resorts of Africa, but on this occasion it was on its good behavior. We
stopped four hours, inspected everything in sight, and at eight o'clock
the special began to climb toward the plateau of East Africa. At nine
o'clock we stopped at Tsavo, a place made famous by the two man-eating
lions whose terrible depredations have been so v