SHEIK ALI BEN SALIM 31 



than mine. As he was taking his wife and nephew to 

 Moshi the next day, I promised to accept deHvery 

 on the car, hire a native driver, and bring this revolu- 

 tionary contraption along to Moshi as part of my 

 motor caravan. 



Mr. A. C. Manning, who might be termed Chief of the 

 Revenue Cutter Service of East Africa, took us on a 

 marvelous ride around the tropical island of Mombasa. 

 We made the trip in the thirty-six foot launch which 

 Manning uses to patrol the coast for some two hundred 

 miles north and seventy miles south during the dhow 

 season, when the Arabs and Persians run down on the 

 northeast monsoon from the Persian Gulf to trade along 

 the coast, bringing pottery, dried fish, carpets, rock 

 salt, and dates. In this small boat he visits many sub- 

 ports and keeps a lookout for smuggHng. 



One of his subports was the ancient town of Kilwa, 

 which he told us was, at one time, a Persian settlement 

 of some importance, and it would be weU worth our 

 while to visit this place and also Lamu, where it was 

 still possible to pick up many reKcs; also remnants of 

 Chinese ware called Lamu china. He explained that 

 during the twelfth century there was quite an extensive 

 trade between this coast, China, and Malabar. 



Manning took us down to the old fish market, a 

 colorful but smelly place where I found a great variety 

 displayed on the long tables. There were sharks, 

 swordfish, rays, angel fish, sardines, bonito, crayfish, 

 mullets, barracuda, crabs, and a large fish looking Hke 

 a red snapper. 



A Httle below the market they were selling dried 

 shark and barracuda, Lamu baskets, and old hides by 

 auction. We found these things and big baskets of 



