6 THE PLEISTOCENE AGE [ch. i 



Selous ; and, so far as I now recall, no hunter of any- 

 thing like his experience has ever also possessed his gift 

 of penetrating observation joined to his power of vivid 

 and accurate narration. He has killed scores of hon 

 and rhinoceros and hundreds of elephant and buffalo ; 

 and these four animals are the most dangerous of the 

 world's big game, when hunted as they are hunted in 

 Africa. I'o hear him tell of what he has seen and done 

 is no less interesting to a natin-alist than to a hunter. 

 There were on the ship many men who loved wild 

 nature, and who were keen hunters of big game ; and 

 almost every day, as we steamed over the hot, smooth 

 waters of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, we would 

 gather on deck around Selous to listen to tales of those 

 strange adventures that only come to the man who has 

 lived long the lonely life of the wilderness. 



On April 21 we steamed into the beautiful and 



picturesque harbour of Mombasa. Many centuries 



before the Cliristian era, dhows from Arabia, carrying 



seafarers of Semitic races whose very names have 



perished, rounded the Lion's Head at Guardafui and 



crept slowly southward along the barren African coast. 



Such dhows exist to-day almost unchanged, and bold 



indeed were the men who first steered them across the 



unknown oceans. I'hey were men of iron heart and 



supple conscience, who fronted inconceivable danger 



and hardship ; they established trading-stations for gold 



and ivory and slaves ; they turned these trading-stations 



into little cities and sultanates, half Arab, half negro. 



Mombasa was among them. In her time of brief 



splendour Portugal seized the city ; the Arabs won it 



back ; and now England holds it. It lies just south of 



the Equator, and when we saw it the brilliant green 



of the tropic foliage showed the town at its best. 



