From Naples to Entebbe. 



The island upon whicli the city is built is knoMn in the 

 native language as Kisiwa mwita, or " Island of War," a name 

 which agrees with its history, whicli is entirely made up of 

 warlike vicissitudes. Mombasa is the best port on the whole 

 east coast of Africa, and was a valuable station on the old 

 trade route for India before the Suez Canal. For these reasons 

 it was for centuries one of the most eagerly sought positions 

 and one of those most persistently disputed between the Arabs, 

 Portuguese, and Turks, who held it alternately. When the 

 Portu2:uese domination came to an end in 1729, Mombasa was 



KAVIRONDO WOMEN. 



governed for over a century by Arabs of the family of Mazrui, 

 under the nominal suzerainty of the Imans of Oman. When 

 the latter transported their capital from Maskat to Zanzibar, 



35 



D 2 



