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street ; to my surprise they politely broke their ranks to let me pass. The army is, on the whole, well-drilled, and, could the men be depended upon to obey a European, they would be formidable antagonists to any opposing native force on the mainland.

It had been arranged that we should take up our quarters at the French hotel. I was invited, however, to be the guest of the Universities Mission at Mbweni, a beautiful place some four miles out of the town, where there is a large and flourishing training establishment for freed slave-girls. There were many wonderful things at Mbweni, including among others a steam-roller ; but what struck me most was a novel kind of razor in use among the girls, which consisted of a piece of broken glass with a chisel-shaped edge. I have never seen this substitute for a razor anywhere, although shaving the head is a universal custom among Africans.

After nine days of preparation, we found ourselves on board an Arab dhow bound for the mainland, with a fair breeze behind us. The dhow was a dirty and dingy craft, some forty feet long by nine feet beam. She had no deck, and so we were obliged to perch ourselves unhappily here and there on the top of boxes. When we neared Sadaani the tide was out and our vessel stuck fast some quarter of a mile from the beach, bumping heavily on the bottom as every wave rolled under her. This must have been most damaging to the dhow, it certainly was exceedingly unpleasant for her passengers. We were not, however, long left in