The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-29

for March.
 @ ATER we disembarked in small ES native boats and were rowed to h-=-- a rough pier nearby where we had to scramble out of the boats and to the land. A soft rain alternated with intervals of hot dazzling sunshine which glared down pitilessly. There were a few government warehouses at the land ing and after making our way up a short bare slope we came to a narrow gauge track which was at the end of the "trol- ley line. The cars simply consisted of a seat, wide enough for two people, mount ed on little wheels with a covering over head to protect one from the sun. The power consisted of either one or two black boys to each car, who ran behind the cars, pushing them
 ride of about quarters of a mile in one of these conveyances finally brought LIS into the city of Mombasa. The few buildings here were constructed by the Arabs and Portuguese some hun dreds of years ago. At monday the glare of the sun on the white walls and the streets of white sand is intense, and, except for few natives, one sees few indications of life
 Just here I may remark that it is an error to suppose that the traveller in this part of Africa will meet with the com forts and oonveniences that he has been accustomed to, regardless of what some recent writers on the subject have had to say concerning the luxures to be en- countered there. There is no running water in the entire city of Mombasa, which is really located on a small coral island adjoining the mainland. Water has to be carried into the town by the na- lives in small carts and bags. I spent the afternoon looking about the town and incidentally engaged a compartment on the train leaving the next morning for Nairobi. That night, after a dinner in the hotel which left much to be desired. l turned In early. The room I had was one of the best in the hotel and con tained an iron bed and other scant furni- ture. The decorations on the walls, re- vealed by the candle light. consisted of a number of tin brewery advertisements. The heat was intense and was not sorry when morning came, although a bath was out of the question. About Il o'clock we went across to the little rail- way station and boarded the train. Most of the rolling stock on the Uganda rail- way was brought down from India during the construction of the road. The cars are each divided into two compartments. It is necessary for the traveller to provide his own bed clothing in case he Is going to spend the night on the train. The road is single tracked and runs from Mombasa, on the coast, to Port Flor ence. or Kisumu. the native name by which 1t Is generally known, on Lake Vic toria Nyanza, a distance of over 5so miles. The road maintains a service of three trains a week each way.
 At Il o'clock the train pulled out. and soon a most welcome breeze was coming through the open windows of our car. We ran on through the outskirts of Mom- basa and through groves of baobab trees on either side of us, the train running slowly on account of the stiff grade. As we climbed higher and higher we got some magnificent views of the scenery below us. We ran on past groups of na- tive huts, stopping at intervals at the little stations where usually ensued a wait of half an hour or more. Finally We arrived at one station where we all had luncheon in one of the dark bungalows that the railway maintains. After that we resumed our journey, the train jolt ing along at a speed of 10 or 15 miles an hour through the hot drowsy after noon. At about this point of our journey we began to experience -the red dust that we had been warned against. The road bed here had been cut through red clay and months and months of drouth had rendered this so dry that the passage or the train raised dense clouds of red dust that covered anything and everything 1t could reach and which seemed to per- meate the most minute crevices. Unless one has taken proper precautions It IS almost impossible to get the red stain ou. of the hair and skin, even after days oi scrubbing. A feature of thisS part or the Tourney is the prevalence or great reo ant hills which sometimes attain height of six or seven feet.
 Tn tbe evening we had stop for din- ner and then ran on through the night. Ae+ar the hours and hours of steady climbing we had now reached con siderable altitude and with the setting of tbe sun the air became cold and travelling rugs were most acceptable before the r,rbt was over. The next morning I was awakened early and the first thing I noticed was the crisp coolness of the air which was in marked contrast to the atmosphere on the coast.
 Looking out of the car windows I was