Nov. i, 1894.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
339 
the air pleasantly cool. Amazing progress in the 
creation of fine buildings in the old fort of Bombay 
has been made during the 17 years which have 
elapsed sinoe my last visit. In fact they are a good 
deal orowded together in some parts, and more are 
Roing up every day, whilst the widow of a rich 
Parsee has just offered R760.000 for the erection 
of a Public Hall, and some other building— a 
library, I believe, on the Esplanade — an offer 
whioh has been aooeptcd by the Municipality. 
Bombay of the present day merits the appella- 
tion of " City of Palaces " much more 
than does Caloutta ; however it may have been in 
years gone bye. There was no time, however, for 
muoh sight-seeing in Bombay, as the haste with 
whioh we had been hustled out of Colombo had 
oaused us to " leave undone a good many things 
whioh we should have done," and the3e omissions 
had to ba supplied in Bombay, to say nothing of 
a friendly visit to the two principal newspaper 
offioes in the oity, Bnd, moreover, not unmindful 0! 
a long hunt for some 
PHRASE BOOKS IN THE BWAHILI TONGUE 
bo commonly spoken on the East Coast of 
Africa. The search was not eo successful as 
might have been wished, whioh is surprising 
considering the intimate conneotion of Bombay and 
Zanzibar. Some " Swahili Exeroiscs" and a ' Hand- 
book" were eventually discovered, but the demand 
for an Arabio phrase-book in Roman oharaotera 
was unable to be met anywhere. At 8 a.m. on the 
second morning passengers were all to be on board 
the German East Afrioan Company's steamer 
" Safari" 
FOB ZANZIBAR DIRECT, 
but I did not bid goodbye to Bombay without 
meeting with 
MISFORTUNE. 
Rupees to the tune of 120 or 150 which I 
had been carefully putting by for use on the 
African CoaBt, were taken out of the travelling box, 
probably during dinner at the Central Hotel, but the 
Iosb was not discovered till next morning an hour or 
two before starting. However, the depredator had 
been good enough to leave behind a note for BJOO, 
fearing no doubt it might be diffioult to change, 
and with this with the best grace possible under 
the oiroumstances, I had to content myself plus 
what few rupees I had in my pocket at the time, 
and so farewell Bombay and heigh ho for the shores 
of tho Dark Continent in a little boat of 1,700 tons 
gross, or 900 tons oargo measurement. 
THE GOOD SHir " SAFARI " 
Bet forth on her journey of 2,350 mileB 
in the teeth of the south-west monsoon, 
and though the weather was fine, she pranced 
and danced and wallowed (see Edwin Arnold) 
her way across the Indian Ocean at the 
rate of 200 milos a day. After having been 
rocked in the cradle of tho deep for twelve days 
and nights without seeing a sail or any living 
thing Bave',flying fish and a bird or two, we came in 
sight of Lamoo on the African ooast and signalised 
our iirtt acquaintance therewith by running oa a 
sandbank as we entered the harbour. 
LAMOO, 
a little Swahili town with some of the streets so 
narrow as to make it impossible to carry an open 
umbrella ; is noted as tho base of operations in tho 
Wilu Expeditions, as also the landing-place of 
tho illstarred Frioland venture— whioh never got 
beyond tho preoinota of the town— at any rate as 
regards all but one or two individuals. 
From Bombay we had brought a German and a 
Dane who were Finlanders, after visitiDg Bombay and 
Poona ; and at Lamoo we took in two more, one a 
nephew of the Bosanquets of Ceylon. The other 
cabin passeDgers on the " Safari " were two 
young men from Southern India bound for Matabele- 
land and a Portuguese officer. Deok passengers 
(numbering 150) comprised Jews, Turks, infidels 
and heretics of a dozen different races, the irre- 
pressible Ramasamy by no means absent and seen 
off from the dook by half-a-dozen good-looking 
Meenatchies and Oarupaies. Many of these deok 
passengers were bound for Natal and other 
Southern porta while o'hers left us at Zanzibar 
Bnd other ports at whioh wo touched. Before 
finally dismissing the steamers on whioh I travelled 
it would be as well to remark that in spite of 
all the outcry about continental trade ousting that 
of our own oountry — we found Cutler & Palmer's 
biscuits on the Austrian Lloyd's boat, and Morton's 
pickles, Crosse & Blaokwell's jams and other pre- 
served food on the German boat, to say nothing 
of a steam winch from a Liverpool maker. Our 
next port after Lamoo was 
MOMBABSA. 
where we stayed but a few hours. It is at Mom- 
bassa that Mr. Pigott reigns as Administrator of the 
Imperial British East Africa Company, wlrch all the 
world knows has done a great deal for East Africa 
with but poor return either in cash or credit. Mr. 
Pigott is well and still hopeful of better days if 
the Britsh Government will only awake up to ihe 
olaims the Company have upon the country and 
not waste too muoh time in haggling over details 
whioh are a mere drop in the bucket to the tax- 
payers of Great Britain and Ireland. The next 
port was 
TUNGA, 
where the Germans have been showing what 
they can do when they try. The channels 
are all buoyed and provided with sea marks 
and a light house (which by the way was not 
lighted when the " Safari " arrived off the port). 
The railway has been well commenoed though we 
heard of difficulties with contractor and labour 
and want of Bkilled engineers, &c. However, 
the Germans intend pushing it on as fast as 
tbey can and it won't be for want of material 
if it does not advance rapidly, every steamer 
bringing out some hundreds of tons, and a jetty 
being in course of oonstruotion to facilitate the 
landing. The harbour itself is admirably situated 
and amply protected. The houses and offioes are 
modern and oivilised habitations, and if the official 
element can only be restricted to more reasonable 
proportions —there seems every prospect of the 
oolony doiDg well. All the same there is 
A BPIRIT OF UNREST 
making itself felt all along the ooast line 
but more especially amongst the natives in 
South German territory whioh necessitates military 
operations at frequent intervals, and does not augur 
well for the immediate future of civilisation and paci- 
fication in these regions. A large expedition has 
lately left Dar es Salaam — tho seat of Government 
— to punish some chief or other who is giving 
trouble — and the last new boat for river navigation, 
loaded with supplies, was lost within a few hours 
of its leaving the harbour and before it oould 
reach the river on whioh it was destined to run. 
At Tunga one of the two 
ELEPHANTS, BHIPFBD AT COLOMBO 
r Borne sporting expedition on tho ooast' 
now for sale at 1U,000. The sooond one died 
