26 AFRICA SPEAKS 



became the Imperial British East African Company, a 

 fifty-year concession of his mainland possessions be- 

 tween the Umba River and Kipini. 



After the sheik had finished relating this brief his- 

 tory of Mombasa, I inquired if it would be possible to 

 stage some shark-fisliing scenes with the natives in 

 their Arab dhows. He was afraid it was the wrong 

 time of the year and intimated that the best place to 

 get this material would be around Zanzibar. 



He was there twelve years ago when an enormous 

 flatfish was caught, of a species never before known. 

 Upon its sides were patterned Arabic characters, and 

 the fishermen in reverent awe had brought it to the 

 wise men of the town, who interpreted the message as 

 a direct command from Heaven, for upon the stranger 

 from the deep was written "You must trust in Allah.'* 



I had often heard the natives speak of mermaids, 

 while the fishermen around Mombasa assured me that 

 they had seen beautiful women who Kved in the water 

 along the coast. Ali Ben SaHm now confirmed my 

 opinion that these comely ladies belonged to the same 

 class of sea nymphs as the mermaid at Aden, which 

 was nothing else but a dugong, an aquatic herbivorous 

 mammal of the order Sirenia and allied to the manatee. 

 They are found in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, around 

 the East Indies, and about Australia, and are consid- 

 ered a great table dehcacy by some peoples. We 

 talked some more of present and ancient things, and 

 then, after a handshake, I went to take up my post at 

 the shop of Ramji Thakershi. 



Upon the recommendation of my good friend Mr. 

 J. Doherty, Government Coastal Agent, I hired this 

 Ramji Thakershi, an Indian fundi, or workman, to 



