Mombasa

“ Those who are sufficiently interested will have an opportunity in a succeeding volume of wandering with us even farther afield. The low jungly coast region; the fierce desert of the Serengetti; the swift sullen rhinoceros-haunted stretches of the Tsavo; Nairobi, the strangest mixture of the twentieth centuries A.D. and B.C.; Mombasa with its wild, barbaric passionate ebb and flow of life, of colour, of throbbing sound, the great lions of the Kapiti Plains, the Thirst of the Loieta, the Masai spearmen, the long chase for the greater kudu ”

“ And no acquaintance with Mombasa, however intimate or old, dispels the charm to the man not guilty of cynicism. To the cynic (and for him) there are sin—as Africa alone knows how to sin—disease, of the dread zymotic types—and death; death peering through the doors of godowns, where the ivory tusks are piled; death in the dark back-streets of the bazaar, where tired policemen wage lop-sided warfare against insanitary habits and a quite impracticable legal code; death on the beach, where cannibal crabs parade in thousands and devour all helpless things ”

“ Mombasa
“If you’d like to go ashore and have a look at Mombasa after tiffin, Mr. Greene,” said the fourth officer of the Elymas to Bertram, the next morning, as he leant against the rail and gazed at the wonderful palm-forest of the African shore, “some of us are going for a row—to stretch our muscles. We could drop you at the Kilindini bunder.” ”

“ Mombasa 34 is on a small island, connected with the mainland by a causeway. On the north side is Mombasa harbour, 35 rather shallow and not very convenient for shipping; on the south is the deep Kilindini channel, running for a long distance inland and providing one of the finest harbours on the east coast of Africa. Mombasa is the terminus of the railway which crosses the low coast strip and surmounts the plateau of East Africa. The trade of the port is very old; but only slaves and ivory could be carried in former times over the long and difficult caravan route which ended here. ”

“ No matter in what part of Mombasa you may happen to be, or at what hour of the day or night, you will meet these industrious little men trotting along under their burdens.
Everywhere also are the women, carrying themselves proudly erect, with a free swing of the hips. They wear invariably a single sheet of cotton cloth printed in blue or black with the most astonishing borders and spotty designs. ”

“ There are no springs and the island is dependent for water on rain collected in tanks or drawn from wells—the latter brackish. Ruins of Arab, Portuguese and Turkish buildings are found in various parts of the island. At Ras Serani are the ruins of a chapel “Nossa Senhora das Merces,” built by the Portuguese in the 17th century on the site of a Turkish fort, and afterwards turned into a fort again by the Arabs.
Mombasa takes its name from Mombasa in Oman. A Perso-Arabic settlement was made here about the 11th century. ”

“ I find this African village the most interesting part of Mombasa. Its inhabitants number over twenty-five thousand and comprise natives of perhaps one hundred tribes, each of which has its own dress and its own customs. Most of the women are bare-headed and bare-legged; and some of the men are clad in little more than breech cloths. Now and then one sees a girl bare to the waist, and the little ones wear only jewellery. On the mainland all go more or less naked. ”

“ It is a strange thing to go to sleep in the woods and then awake to find one’s self rolling over a high, treeless country with game by the thousand gambolling along the car tracks. We awoke on the Kapiti plains, which are about a mile above the sea and two hundred and sixty-eight miles from Mombasa. ”

“ A jungle of green on a foundation of coral, Mombasa is only a mile or so wide and three miles in length, but it rises well up out of the sea and is so close to the continent that one can almost hear the wind blow through the coconut groves over the way. On the island itself the jungle has been cut up into wide roads. There is a lively town with a polyglot population at one end of it, and the hills are spotted with the homes of the British officials. The island has two good harbours, a little one and a big one. The little one, which is in the main part of the town, is frequented by small craft. ”

“ They passed the Island of Pemba, and on the 22nd reached Mombasa, which Burton was glad to visit on account of its associations with Camoens, who wrote
So near that islet lay along the land, Nought save a narrow channel stood atween; And rose a city throned on the strand, Which from the margent of the seas was seen; Fair built with lordly buildings tall and grand As from its offing showed all its sheen, Here ruled a monarch for long years high famed, Islet and city are Mombasa named. ”

“ But in Zanzibar he had his way. Aden came and went, and Kilindini, and that first walking through tropical bush to the old fort by the sea that has dreamed so many hundred years away since the remnant of its Portuguese garrison was crucified on its walls. Not even in Mombasa, sitting on the shore at the entrance of the river, did he speak, for there is a golf links of sorts hard by and the Major and Muriel were going round. ”

“ No idle occupation can be more fascinating than to wander about the mazes of this ancient town. The variety of race and occupation is something astounding. Probably the one human note that, everywhere persisting, draws the whole together is furnished by the water-carriers. Mombasa has no water system whatever. ”

“ However, my mind was made up now, and I was not to be scared off my plan; so, as there were no boats running to Mombasa—which is the gateway of British East Africa—I bargained 33with an Arab for a passage on a dhow which carried native passengers between the various ports along the coast. The owner of the dhow provided no accommodation for his passengers, and I suppose one could hardly expect that he would, seeing that the fare from Zanzibar to Mombasa—a distance of about 250 miles—was only two rupees, or two shillings and eightpence! ”

“ It bears the symbol I.H.S. The fort was repaired by Seixas de Cabreira in 1635, the restoration being recorded in an inscription over the gateway. By the British authorities the fort is used as a military store and central gaol. In the public garden on the point of the town facing the sea a bronze statue of Sir William Mackinnon—to whom Mombasa owes its renaissance—has been placed. The population of the city is cosmopolitan, with three well-marked racial distinctions: the Arab (Swahili) , the Indian and the European. The climate is fairly healthy, and Europeans live there with comfort. ”

“ Stasch, who enjoyed reading stories of African travels, knew that Mombasa lay several degrees beyond the equator. He knew, too, that the bordering countries, although the English now find them interesting, are really but little known, being quite wild, full of elephants, giraffes, rhinoceroses, buffaloes, and all kinds of antelopes, which are constantly seen by army merchants and missionary expeditions. So the boy envied Captain Glen from the bottom of his heart and promised to visit him in Mombasa, so that he might hunt lions and buffaloes with him. ”

“ I sometimes wondered how I should act with a hostile lion in front of me—whether I would become panic-stricken or whether my nerve would hold true. There is lots of food for reverie when one is going against big game for the first time.
Chalking the Pig's Eye
We landed at Mombasa September sixteenth, seventeen days out from Naples.
Mombasa is a little island about two by three miles in extent. It is riotous with brilliant vegetation, and, as seen after a long sea voyage through the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, it looks heavenly except for the heat. ”

“ The internment of the enemy subjects in Mombasa was the first material sign, and it was hailed with acclamation by the Swahilis of Mombasa, who treasured up resentment at the arrogant behaviour of the Germans prior to the war. The conflict was therefore a great blow to the solidarity of the white race, but this effect was not immediately apparent.
On the whole the tribes behaved in an exemplary manner, but enemy agents produced some active unrest among a coast tribe which for some years past had been unfavourably disposed towards Government. ”

“ In Tripoli my eyes were made sore by the glare of the Libyan wastes and their dust blew across the Nile valley during my stay in Egypt and the British Sudan. The Arabian desert was on both sides of us as we came down the Red Sea and its sands several times covered the ship. We had the rockiest of all deserts in southern Arabia while that of Italian Somaliland was not any better.
Here at Mombasa we are in the luxuriant tropics where the surroundings remind me of Solomon’s song. All nature seems joyful. ”

“ Chop boxes (food) and other necessary camp gear should be obtained at Mombasa or Nairobi, where the agents will put up just what is necessary. About a month before sailing from England a letter should be sent to the agents, stating the date of arrival and what porters, etc., will be required. The sportsman will then find everything ready for him, so that an immediate start may be made.
Unless money is no object, I should not advise anyone to engage porters at Mombasa, as equally good men can be obtained at Nairobi, thus saving 20 rupees per head in return railway fares. ”

“ This district harboured, besides the upper-class Swahilis and Arabs, a large number of East Indians. Still back of this are thousands of the low grass, or mud and wattle huts of the natives, their roofs thatched with straw or palm. These are apparently arranged on little system. The small European population lives atop the sea bluffs beyond the old fort in the most attractive bungalows. This, the most desirable location of all, has remained open to them because heretofore the fierce wars with which Mombasa, "the Island of Blood," has been swept have made the exposed seaward lands impossible. ”

“ Sepo is generic for a long river. (See Esopus.)
Mombasha, Mombashes, etc., the name of a small lake in Southfield, Orange County, is presumed to be a corruption of M'biìsses (Zeisb.) , "Small lake or pond," "Small water-place." The apostrophe indicates a sound produced with the lips closed, readily pronouncing o (Mom) . Charles Clinton, in his survey of the Cheesec-ook Patent in 1735, wrote Mount-Basha. Mombasa is an Arabic name for a coral island on the east coast of Africa. It may have been introduced here as the sound of the Indian name. ”

“ WE were visiting British East Africa in quest of big game, and on our arrival at Mombasa at once proceeded by the railway to Stony Athi Station, taking with us a Swahili headman named Abdullah, a cook, four gun-bearers, three tent boys, and over fifty porters, who had been engaged in advance for us by one of the leading trading houses. ”

“ But since the completion of the Uganda Railway, Mombasa forms the real gateway to the interior, and will do so in an increasing degree, as the economic development of Central Africa—now only in its infancy—goes on. Whether our two great German railways—as yet only projected—can ever recover the immense advantage gained by Mombasa, the future will show. We must hope for the best.
NATIVE DANCE AT DAR ES SALAM
Mombasa and Zanzibar interested me more from a historical than from a political point of view. ”

“ It is pathetic to read that only two days later a large Portuguese fleet appeared off the harbour, bringing the long-looked-for reinforcements. After this the Portuguese made several attempts to reconquer Mombasa, but were unsuccessful until 1728, when the town was stormed and captured by General Sampayo. The Arabs, however, returned the next year in overwhelming numbers, and again drove the Portuguese out ”

“ A cable connecting Mombasa with Zanzibar puts the protectorate in direct telegraphic communication with the rest of the world. There is also an inland system of telegraphs connecting the chief towns with one another and with Uganda.
Agriculture and other Industries.—In the coast region and by the shores of Victoria Nyanza the products are tropical, and cultivation is mainly in the hands of the natives or of Indian immigrants. There are, however, numerous plantations owned by Europeans. Rice, maize and other grains are raised in large quantities; cotton and tobacco are cultivated. ”

“ He soon perceived that the best districts of his province lay around the large lakes in the south. But the Equatorial Province was too far away from Egypt. It hung as it were on a long string, the Nile, and from the largest lake, the Victoria Nyanza, the distance to Cairo in a straight line was nearly 2200 miles. Much shorter was the route to Mombasa on the east coast, so Gordon advised the Khedive to occupy Mombasa and open a road to the Victoria Nyanza. Then it would be easier to contend against the slave-trade. ”

“ Leaving Mombasa at noon, it reaches Makindu at the end of the jungle very early in the morning, and about sunrise 3ie traveller awakens between 8,000 and 4,000 feet above the sea-level, and in scenery which will astonish him if he is making the journey for the first time, and make him think he has travelled several thousand miles and not two hundred and fifty, which is the actual distance. The air is clear and cool and the grass dewy. ”

“ The First-Class Return fares from Mombasa to Nairobi, Kisumu, and Entebbe are 5 pounds 17s. 9d., 10 pounds 10s. 3d., and 13 pounds 13s. 3d. respectively.
It is unnecessary to specify district by district when particular species of game are to be found, for the sportsman can easily learn this for himself and get the latest news of game movements on his arrival at Mombasa. As a matter of fact, the whole country abounds in game, and there cannot be lack of sport and trophies for the keen shikari. ”