SIR JOHN KIRK’S INFLUENCE AT ZANZIBAR. 25 
w e greatly regretted the absence of its kind and most dis¬ 
tinguished owner, who had done so much to further the 
object of our expedition. In all quarters we heard him 
spoken of with admiration and even affection, and to 
his personality and power of administration the British 
prestige in this part of East Africa is entirely due. 
Sir John Kirk is a great admirer of beautiful flowers 
and shrubs, and we noticed india - rubber plants, 
mahogany trees, tropical pines, hibiscus, oleanders, 
frangipani, pine apples, dwarf palms, clove bushes, and 
many others ; they had been imported from all parts of 
the world, including Kew Gardens. 
After breakfasting under a splendid mango, we spent 
the day in wandering about the garden, taking photo¬ 
graphs, and playing lawn-tennis on a capital asphalt 
court, and in the evening strolled up to the Mission 
station. 
This colony is arranged in three sections, the girls’, 
the bachelors’, and the married quarters. The latter 
consist of neat little huts, with a small garden plot 
attached to each. Bishop Steere, I am told, did much 
for this Mission during his tenure of office, and intro¬ 
duced the hand-saw and a traction engine, and taught 
the people how to make lime from the coral: he also 
got a windmill as a water-drawer, hut unfortunately the 
sails never arrived from England, so it merely represents 
a memorial. With his death all practical enterprise 
died, and now, instead of the girls being taught to cook 
and the men to work, the observance of ritualistic 
exercises seems the chief occupation of the existing 
