AFRICAN CAMP FIRES 



Indians. Still back of this are thousands of the 

 low grass, or mud and wattle huts of the natives, 

 their roofs thatched with straw or palm. These are 

 apparently arranged on little system. The small 

 European population lives atop the sea bluffs 

 beyond the old fort in the most attractive bungalows. 

 This, the most desirable location of all, has remained 

 open to them because heretofore the fierce wars 

 with which Mombasa, "the Island of Blood," has 

 been swept have made the exposed seaward lands 

 impossible. 



No idle occupation can be more fascinating than 

 to wander about the mazes of this ancient town. 

 The variety of race and occupation is something 

 astounding. Probably the one human note that, 

 ever}nvhere persisting, draws the whole together is 

 furnished by the water-carriers. Mombasa has no 

 water system whatever. The entire supply is 

 drawn from numberless picturesque wells scattered 

 everywhere in the crowded centre; and distributed 

 mainly in Standard Oil cans suspended at either 

 end of a short pole. By dint of constant daily exer- 

 cise, hauling water up from a depth and carrying it 

 various distances, these men have developed the 

 most beautifully powerful figures. They proceed 

 at a half trot, the slender poles, with forty pounds 

 at either end, seeming fairly to cut into their naked 



70 



