CHAPTER XVI 



A RACE WITH A "RHINO" 



BRITISH EAST AFRICA has reason to 

 feel proud of the finely equipped narrow- 

 gauge railroad that connects Mombasa 

 with Lake Victoria, a distance of five hundred 

 and eighty-four miles. It is a toy railroad, to 

 be sure so small, in fact, that three days had 

 passed before the Roosevelt African expedition's 

 outfit was transported from Kilindina to Kapiti. 

 But what can one expect of a railroad that was 

 only built to open up a savage country to civi- 

 lisation and which is operated at a yearly loss 

 of thousands of dollars to the government that 

 maintains it? 



The tiny cars are drawn by wood-burning 

 Baldwin American locomotives that haul two 

 trains up and down the road every week. On 

 account of the destructive "white ants" that 

 devour everything made of wood, sheet-iron 

 sleepers are used, and the road-bed ballasted 



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