XXXIV 
CRICKET, FOOTBALL, ETC. 
339 
are fought on the keenest and most modern principles, 
and if I venture to think that such principles detract a 
little from the old-time sportsmanship of the game, the 
fault is most probably with my conservative spirit. At 
all events there can be no question of the keenness, 
pluck and energy displayed. 
Golf is a modern introduction to the country, and 
that it has caught on there can be no question. Four 
years ago the game was unknown to us, now there are 
at least six courses and an annual championship. It is 
a game especially suitable to those who are working 
in the capital. The official or business man usually 
leaves his work about 4, and has just comfortable 
time for a cup of tea and a round of golf amid beautiful 
air and surroundings. 
The courses in the Protectorate are Nairobi, Kisumu, 
Naivasha, Mombasa, Nyeri, and Mweru. Of these 
Kisumu, Naivasha, and Mombasa are noteworthy as 
tributes to the perseverance and keenness of the local 
golfers, and as evidence of the fact that golf is possible, 
and even enjoyable, under the most unpropitious 
circumstances. That at Kisumu has a further and 
most noteworthy distinction. At one time Kisumu or 
Port Florence had the reputation of being the most 
unhealthy station in the Protectorate. The thick 
jungle which surrounded the houses was the haunt 
and breeding-place of millions of malaria-carrying 
mosquitos. When Mr. John Ainsworth was appointed 
Provincial Commissioner of the Nyanza Province, he, 
with his customary indefatigable energy, started cutting 
down the surrounding jungle, and though having a 
horror of the game, in laying out a golf-course in its 
place chiefly with the idea of keeping down the 
vegetation. To-day both mosquitos and fever have 
z 2 
