VIII. 

 MOMBASA. 



A SINGLE light shone at the end of the 

 stone quay, and another inside a big in- 

 determinate building at some distance. We stum- 

 bled towards this, and found it to be the biggest 

 shed ever constructed out of corrugated iron. A 

 bearded Sikh stood on guard at its open entrance. 

 He let any one and every one enter, with never 

 a flicker of his expressionless black eyes ; but 

 allowed no one to go out again without the 

 closest scrutiny for dutiable articles that lacked 

 the blue customs plaster. We entered. The 

 place was vast and barnlike and dim, and very, 

 very hot. A half-dozen East Indians stood be- 

 hind the counters ; another, a babu, sat at a 

 little desk ready to give his clerical attention to 

 what might be required. We saw no Euro- 

 pean ; but next morning found that one passed 

 his daylight hours in this inferno of heat. For 



