49 
a little island close to the shore, has the aspect of an Indian 
town, there being a large number of Indians there, who are 
greatly disliked by the natives, the compliment being returned 
in the same way by the Indians. It is somewhat difficult 
here to obtain good water, and water carriers can be seen 
hawking their vessels of water. Mombasa is only four 
degrees from the equator. We had one day’s trip by the 
Uganda Railway through splendid vegetation and palms, 
on to the great plateau of East Africa. That night we enter- 
tained Mombasa on our ship. 
The homeward journey up the Red Sea was made in a 
temperature varying from 90 to 96 degrees in the 
shade, and this somewhat interfered with the usual sports 
and pastimes in which our party daily indulged. Reaching 
Egypt we spent a veryjmerry week in Cairo. The many 
bazaars there were a great attraction to the ladies of our 
party. A grand view of the town is obtained from the 
mosque at the top of the capital, from which can be seen the 
tombs of the kings, and across the flood-waters of the Nile 
the great Pyramids of Ghizeh. Of course we made an excur- 
sion to the Pyramids and raced up “ Cheops ” without native 
help. The “ climb ” took us under eight minutes, the descent 
however, not being so quickly made. Our homeward journey 
was made via Port Said, the Straits of Messina, the Straits 
of Bonifacio, Marseilles and Gibraltar. 
The Lecturer, in response to a hearty vote of thanks, 
mentioned that, in his opinion, Boers and Britons would 
quickly settle down together and work peaceably ; but if 
any doubt existed as to the country reaching a settled 
and quiet state, it was raised by the question whether the 
coloured races would live together peacefully under the 
constraint of the “ Pax Britannica.” By far the most 
formidable political problem before Boer and Briton was 
the problem of the prolific native. 
