THE ISLAND OF MOMBASA 
competition. The German, while resting, prefers 
to play cards, or sing, or sit in his long easy chair 
with the children playing about. The Englishman 
likes to compete in feats of strength and takes to 
deck sports as a duck takes to water. I don’t know 
who started it, but some one organized deck sports 
on the Woermann, and after we left Aden the 
sound of battle raged without cessation. Some of 
The Cock Fight 
the competitions were amusing. For instance, 
there was the cockfight. Two men, with hands and 
knees hobbled with a stick and stout rope, seat them¬ 
selves inside a circle, and the game is for each one to 
try to put the other outside the circle. Neither can 
use his hands. 
It is like wrestling in a sitting position with both 
hands tied, the mode of attack being to topple over 
one’s opponent and then bunt him out of the circle. 
There is considerable skill in the game and a fear- 
