CHAPTER II 



BY SEA TO LAMU 



The day had been particularly hot, even for 

 Mombasa, but now as I walked down from the club 

 to the little harbour, the evening breeze brought 

 freshness to the heated air, and ruffled with tiny cat's 

 paws the smooth, glassy surface of the harbour. 

 In the distance I could see the line of foam where 

 the lazy swell broke over the reefs, and close at hand 

 the palms stirred and whispered gently in the night 

 wind. The little Wiesman lay at anchor in the bay ; 

 she had that morning come in from Zanzibar, and 

 was to start the same night for the north, calling at 

 Malindi, Lamu, Kismayu, Brava and Mogadishu. 

 Then she would return. She belonged to an Indian 

 firm and was in charge of two white officers and a 

 Lascar crew. Her sole accommodation consists of 

 a couple of tiny cabins amidships, a minute saloon on 

 the poop, into which five men could just squeeze at 

 meal-times, and a toy navigating bridge above the 

 cabin. As I made my way down the steep incline 

 to the landing-stage, she blew her whisde twice im- 

 patiently. My men, stores and luggage were all on 

 board in charge of my headman, so I was alone in 

 the little boat in which I was rowed across. As I 

 stepped on board I was greeted by the skipper, and 

 after taking a drink with him in the litde saloon, we 

 made our way on to the bridge ; shordy after, my 



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