36 
FROM ADEN TO MOMBASA. 
Singapore, or kikokos (whips of rhinoceros hide). It is said that 
Col. Roosevelt bought one of these which he wore on his wrist during 
the hunt. It may come in hand sometime again and will probably be 
the only thing not provided by his American outfitters. Every man 
up country carries one. You are in a savage land, where you may 
one day have to meet savage conditions in savage manner. 
In Mombasa, probably at De Sousa’s, the ex-President’s party 
completed its outfit. At De Sousa’s you can get every conceivable 
thing, from a thimble to a coffin. It is a cool, dark, airy repository, 
where a soft-voiced Goanese family waits on you very gently and 
pleasantly, seating you in wicker chairs, bringing you fans and serv¬ 
ing you with soda and lime juice—a drink you become fond of in the 
tropics, where water supplies are dangerous. 
FROM MOMBASA TO NAIROBI. 
The. ex-President had all the courtesies of the road going from 
Mombasa to Nairobi, where he made his headquarters. And what 
a wonderful journey that is, as you rise from the sea to the great up¬ 
lands of the interior on the Uganda Railway! In the little cars 
fashioned like the cars in India you adjust yourself and your be¬ 
longings on the lengthwise running seats. Each car is divided into 
two compartments, separated by toilet-rooms, whose not too 
abundant supply of water is most useful on this dusty trip. The 
gauge of the track is of the narrowest, the engines are small but 
energetic, and burn wood with a tremendous sputter of sparks and 
smoke. 
Leaving the noisy, ferociously hot and glaring station of Mom¬ 
basa the train trundles across the island to the causeway which 
unites the latter with the mainland. Up, up you rise, through groves 
of mango trees and bananas, while sea and land spread out in an 
ever-widening panorama below you until you lose it as the train 
leaves the seashore and turns inland. 
The rich tropical vegetation grows sparser and is finally sup¬ 
planted by palled, leafless scrub thorns and queer distorted trees of 
unknown family. Already a cooler air blows into the car. The 
pungent odors of the lower country are replaced by a sweet fresh¬ 
ness suggestive of herbs and aromatic shrubs. 
