tions were
amusing. For instance, there was the cockfight. Two men, with hands and
knees hobbled with a stick and stout rope, seat themselves inside a
circle, and the game is for each one to try to put the other outside the
circle. Neither can use his hands.

[Drawing: _The Cock Fight_]

It is like wrestling in a sitting position with both hands tied, the
mode of attack being to topple over one's opponent and then bunt him out
of the circle. There is considerable skill in the game and a fearful lot
of hard work. By the time the victor has won, the seat of the trousers
of each of the two contending heroes has cleaned the deck until it
shines--the deck, not the trousers.

In a similar way the deck is benefited by the "are you there" game. Two
men are blindfolded, armed with long paper clubs, and then lie at full
length on the deck, with left hands clasped. One then says, "Are you
there?" and when the other answers, "I am," he makes a wild swat at
where he thinks the other's head to be. Of course, when the man says "I
am," he immediately gets his head as far away from where it was when he
spoke as is possible while clasping his opponent's hand. The "Are you
there" man makes a wild swing and lands some place with a prodigious
thump. He usually strikes the deck and seldom hits the head of the other
man. If one of them hits the other's head three times he wins. In the
meantime the deck has been thoroughly massaged by the two recumbent
heroes as they have moved back and forth in their various offensive and
defensive manoeuvers.

[Drawing: "_Are You There?_"]

[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. A Study in Mombasa Shadows]

[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. Mombasa Is a Pretty Place]

[Photograph: Transportation in Mombasa]

[Drawing: _The Spar and Pillow Fight_]

The pillow fight on the spar is the most fun. Two gladiators armed with
pillows sit astride a spar and try to knock each other off. It requires
a good deal of knack to keep your balance while some one is pounding you
with a large pillow. You are not allowed to touch the spar with your
hands, hence the difficulty of holding a difficult position. When a man
begins to waver the other redoubles his attack, and slowly at first, but
surely, the defeated gladiator tumbles off the spar into a canvas
stretched several feet below. It is lots of fun, especially for the
spectator and the winner.

Then, of course, there were other feats of intellectual and ph