The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-15
Port Florence.


 I YNFURL your fans and take our your
 kerchiefs to hide your bushes. We >| are about to have a stroll among the Kavirondo, who inhabit the eastern shores of Lake Victoria on the western edge of British East Africa. These people are all more or less naked. and some of the sights we dare not describe. We have our cameras with Us. but Postmaster Gea- eral Meyer will not allow our films 10 go through the mails, and no newspaper would publish all the pictures We take.
 We are in tile heart of the continent, so near the equator that a days march to the north would enable us to straddls it, but so high above the sea that the weather is by no means unpleasant We are on the wide Gulf of Kavirondo and on the eastern edge of the greatest fresh water lake of the world. That island studded sea in front of us is Victoria Nyanza, and over thsre at The n3fthW st. less than weeks march on foot and less than two days by the small steamers which ply on the lake. is Napoleon's gulf, out of which flows the great River Nile. With the glass you may see the hippo potamuses swimming near the shores af kaVirondo bay. and behind us are plains covered with pastures and spotted with droves of cattle antelope and gnu. and also the queerly matched huts of the stark-naked natives.
 The plains have sparse growth of tropical trees. and looking over them We can catch sight of the hills which steadily rise to the Mau Escarpment, beyond which is the great Rift valley, and still farther east are the level highlands of British East Africa, the whole extending on and on to Mombosa. q distance Is great as that between New York and Cleveland to the Indian ocean. It was at that point that I entered the contl- nent. and l have been travelling for days in coming the 5s4 miles which lie between us and the ocean.
 A Future Metropolis.
 Port Florence is the terminus of the ITeanda railroad. and it is destined to be one of the great cities of East central Africa. When the Cape to Cairo trunk line is completed there will propaely De u branch running from here through Tfeanda to connect with it, and all The commerce of the vast region aoout LaNe Victoria will flow by steamer to tflis point and down the Uganda railway to inc sea. As it is now, the trade is greatly increasing. and ivory, hides, grain and ,ubber from German East Africa. the I-pper Congo and the lands to the north of the lake are shipped through here 10 the coast The cars come right down 10 wooden wharf which extends well out ihto inc Kavirondo gulf On the lake are sev- eral small steamers, which have beeen brought up here in pieces and put to- gether. and they are now orlnslhs II. freight from all parts of thls DE llilanu sea-. .-e. ,.., lin town with practically no accommoda- lions for travellers. The only place to sion is a. dark bungalow, or rest house, put up by the government, ana .ie only stores are those of few Hlhooo traders The Europeans consist or some soldiers belonging to the kings Aliioai, ''n Rihes of the government officials anu of some employees of the railroad.
 The officials put on great airs. Among the messengers who came in with me yes terday was a judge who will settle tue disputes among these half-naked natives He was met at the cars by some solulers and a gang of convicts in chains Ihe latter had come to carry his baggage ana other belongings to his tin house on the 1 biil and each was dressed in a heavy iron collar with iron chains extending from l if to his wrists and ankles. Neverthe- l less he was able to aid in flirting the boxes and in pushing them off on trucks prodded. up to his work all the while by the soldiers on guard.
 Naked Nation.
 But let us take our feet in our hands and tramp about through Port Florence. Later on we may march off into the country through which l travelled for about 50 miles on my way here. In Port Florence itself we may now and then see a man with a blanket wrapped around him, and the men frequently wear waist cloths behind or in front. Out side of this they are stark naked many Of them wearing absolutely noth- ing except plugs in their ears, strings of beads about their waists and rough wire rings on their wrists and ankles. All have skins of a dark chocolate brown. They have rather intelligent features woolly hair and lips and noses like those of a negro. They belong to the Bantu race family and are among the best formed of the peoples of Africa. Some one has said that travelng through their country is like walking through miles of living statuary. and l have seen thous- ands of such statues on my way here.
 kavirondo Men.
 Take these Kavirondo men who have gathered about me just now as l write Their figures are ebony and some of them look as though they might have been cut from black marble by the hand of sculptor. Look at those three brown bucks at my left. They are IS straight as Michael Angelo famed statue of David and about as well formed. See how firmly they stand on their black feet Their heads are thrown back and two have burst out laughing as l turn my camera toward them They are stark naked. with the exception of those bands of beads about the waist and their ankiets and bracelets. I can follow every muscle with my eye, and they seem the perfect of physical manhood. That nude fellow next me has a coil Of wire about his biceps and there is a pound of wire on his right wrist. He is smoking a pipe, but it just hangs between his teeth, which shine out bright and white as he smiles.
 The man next him has two brass rings on each of his black thumbs, bands of telegraph wire around his wrists and two wide coils of wire above and below the