Suahili'Lafid and the Wasuahili, 51 
the land for a distance of a few miles, receiving the 
drainage of the Kinika hills, and affording facilities 
for the conveyance of the produce of the surrounding 
districts to the town. Busy ferries ply at Kisauni, 
Makupa, Kihndini, and Pa Mbaraka. At Makupa, 
however, the stream is fordable when the tide is 
low. The entrances north-east and south-west form 
excellent harbours, affording anchorage for vessels of 
the largest draught, and, I should say, great facilities 
for the building, whenever they may become neces- 
sary, of wharves and docks. 
The island is higher than most parts of the coast, 
rising, as it does, out of the water in abrupt cliffs, 
some forty or fifty feet high. Inconsiderable as this 
elevation may appear, it gives to the place many 
advantages, especially those of a sanatory kind. The 
island is from three to four miles in diameter. Its 
soil is for the most part very fertile ; yet, despite this 
and the smallness of the area, it is only partially 
cultivated. The mango, palm, limes, cashew, baobab, 
flourish in every part, and a great variety of tropical 
vegetation is to be found among its shrubbery and 
jungle growth. Everything grows in the greatest 
luxuriance. Orchards, as well as vegetable and flower 
gardens, might be cultivated with the greatest ease, 
and the island made into a perfect little Eden. The 
only drawback would be the want of water, though 
this difficulty could be met by the sinking of wells. 
Wells are already to be found where we would least 
expect to find them; relics no doubt, some of them, of 
Portuguese civilisation. 
The town of Mombasa stands on the north-east 
side of the island. Like Zanzibar, it has its "dicky." 
