I 
MOMBASA—THE GATE BY WHICH COMMERCE AND 
CHRISTIANITY ENTERED EAST AFRICA 
It is undeniable that after spending fifteen days on 
the high seas the eyes and the mind grow weary of the 
apparently interminable watery part of the world 
surrounding the ship. Watch the excitement among 
the passengers when the news “ land in sight ” travels 
round the decks, saloons, and smoking-room. I am 
convinced that the majority of passengers soon grow 
weary of the sea, even when the weather is uniformly 
fair and sunny : some of them become quarrelsome ; 
many pass sleepless nights, especially in tropical and 
subtropical regions, and few really enjoy themselves. 
When the weather is bad and the ship ‘"pitches” or 
“ rolls,” and more especially when the decks are awash, 
the lot of the passenger is often very uncomfortable, and 
those who are not sea-sick are honestly “ sick of the sea.” 
Under such conditions, instead of being elated with the 
interminable procession of roaring waves, they will, with 
honest old Gonzalo, freely give “ a thousand furlongs of 
the sea for an acre of barren ground ; long heath, brown 
furze, anything.” 
We had spent seven days in an uncomfortable ship ; 
its deck was hampered with mules from Somaliland and 
with pilgrims. It is true we saw on the way the mighty 
Cape Guardafui, which lacks a lighthouse, much to the 
advantage of the natives living along the coast, who, 
like the Cornish wreckers of olden days, thrive on 
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