'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From January 1863 to December 1864. (Edited by the Secretary.) Volume XVII.' [‎269] (446/524)

( 269 )
Art. XVII.— Visit to the Wanika Country in the vicinity of Momhas-
sa, and the Progress made by the Christian Missionaries at that
place, —By Lieut. Colonel R. L. Playfair, XL M.’s Consul and
Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Zanzibar. Contributed by Government,
[ Read before the Society, September 15th, 1864,]
X HAD long proposed to myself a visit to the Wanika country in the
yicinity of Mombassa, wliere our Missionaries are settled, in the hope
that my presence amongst them would strengthen their hands in their
dealings with the provincial authorities of his Highness Seyed Majid,
and with a view to make myself more intimately acquainted with the
extensive districts under my political control. During the first two
months of this year illness prevented my leaving Zanzibar, and after my
recovery the Pleiad was absent at Seychelles. I was therefore very
glad to accept the kind offer of Captain Gardner to convey me to
Mombassa in the frigate under his commad.
We left Zanzibar in H. M. S. Orestes on the 26th ultimo and
anchored at Mombassa on the morning of the 28th idem. The
University Mission to the Zambesi under Bishop Tozer has lately
been broken up, and I found two members of it—the Rev. C«
Alington and Mr. Drayton—on board, X invited these gentlemen to
accompany me. We landed shortly after our arrival and took up
our residence in Seyed Majid’s house, which had been placed at my
disposal. The Orestes then proceeded to sea to cruize about for the
suppression of the slave trade, and Captain Gardner promised to call
for me in a week.
I need hardly describe a place so well known as Mombassa; it has
the usual Arab characteristics of ruin, neglect, and filth in a striking
degree. The only object of interest is an extensive fort, built in 1596
by the Portuguese, and restored by them in 1635, as an inscription o\er
the principal gateway, headed by the Christian monogram I. H. S.,
informs us. It is a work of considerable pretension, with upwards of
a hundred guns in position, but in a ruinous condition, and the interior
argaans