Office took over control of the Company's possessions,
and a Protectorate was proclaimed; and ten years later the
administration of the country was transferred to the Colonial Office.

The last serious fighting on the island took place so recently as
1895-6, when a Swahili chief named M'baruk bin Rashed, who had three
times previously risen in rebellion against the Sultan of Zanzibar,
attempted to defy the British and to throw off their yoke. He was
defeated on several occasions, however, and was finally forced to flee
southwards into German territory. Altogether, Mombasa has in the past
well deserved its native name of Kisiwa M'vitaa, or "Isle of War"; but
under the settled rule now obtaining, it is rapidly becoming a thriving
and prosperous town, and as the port of entry for Uganda, it does a
large forwarding trade with the interior and has several excellent
stores where almost anything, from a needle to an anchor, may readily
be obtained.

Kilindini is, as I have said, on the opposite side of the island, and
as its name--"the place of deep waters"--implies, has a much finer
harbour than that possessed by Mombasa. The channel between the island
and the mainland is here capable of giving commodious and safe
anchorage to the very largest vessels, and as the jetty is directly
connected with the Uganda Railway, Kilindini has now really become the
principal port, being always used by the liners and heavier vessels.

I had spent nearly a week in Mombasa, and was becoming very anxious to
get my marching orders, when one morning I was delighted to receive an
official letter instructing me to proceed to Tsavo, about one hundred
and thirty-two miles from the coast, and to take charge of the
construction of the section of the line at that place, which had just
then been reached by railhead. I accordingly started at daylight next
morning in a special train with Mr. Anderson, the Superintendent of
Works, and Dr. McCulloch, the principal Medical Officer; and as the
country was in every way new to me, I found the journey a most
interesting one.

The island of Mombasa is separated from the mainland by the Strait of
Macupa, and the railway crosses this by a bridge about three-quarters
of a mile long, called the Salisbury Bridge, in honour of the great
Minister for Foreign Affairs under whose direction the Uganda Railway
scheme was undertaken. For twenty miles after reaching the mainland,
our train wound steadily upwards through b