AT KAMPALA 



135 



other man who is away, and who will probably not take it quite 

 so calmly when he hears of the theft." This happened in June 

 1894. Since then there has been further phenomenal missionary 

 activity at Kampala and in Uganda. The number of missionaries, 

 white and black, I mean European and native, at the same rate 

 of increase, must become legion in the future. They are com- 

 posed of priests and laymen, males and females, Protestants and 

 Roman Catholics, married and single. I should not venture to 

 compute the thousands of natives that have been baptized and 

 the number of benighted souls that have been saved. But the 

 devil seems to have become aware, that he must bestir himself, 

 hurry up and strengthen his forces, if he does not want to see 

 the Millennium arriving at Kampala earlier than elsewhere. 

 This may account, why the thieves have grown infinitely bolder 

 at Kampala at the present day, and they do not spare mission- 

 aries either. One day one of the Mission ladies was terrified 

 by a thief in her room. This emissary of Satan snatched up 

 some of her property 

 and escaped. 



The last time I was 

 at Kampala, I saw a 

 mixture of troops drawn 

 together from various 

 sources, owing to the 

 Soudanese mutiny. 

 Amongst these were a 

 number of East African 

 Rifles hurriedly sent 

 up from Mombasa. 

 Dressed in brown kake, 

 with red fez and dark 

 blue putties, and wear- 

 ing boots, the soldiers 

 looked very smart. 

 Those I saw were all 

 rather short ; this fact 



and their smooth African faces gave one the impression of 

 their belonging to a corps of boys. 



When I passed through Mombasa, men were being recruited 

 for the Uganda Rifles. The scarcity of men available to enlist 

 became apparent, when one gentleman recognised his former 



THE EAST AFRICAN RIFLES. 



