Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ever, destined to be interrupted by news of the saddest kind. Both at Mombasa and at Zanzibar rumour was rife of a serious disturbance in the hinterland. At Mozambique this rumour was conf1rmed; and on reaching Beira, I first heard particulars of the mutiny of the Uganda Rifles, of Thruston's gallant attempt to recall them to their duty, and of his untimely death. The news affected me greatly. ,It seemed a strange and ominous thing that my entry into Africa should coincide with such a tragedy. But the report which I had received was authoritative and final. Thruston's name has been introduced into these pages because my connection with Africa had its genesis in him; and now with the close of his own story he passes out of mine. At Beira I was obliged to transfer myself from the well-found liner, which had brought me from Zanzibar, into a small, dirty, and unstable coasting boat. Moreover, to my profound disgust, it appeared that, for several days to come, the water at the Chinde mouth of the Zambesi would not be sufficiently deep to float us over the bar. Accordingly, instead of going straight from Beira to Chinde, we headed back through the hot seas to Mozambique, and thence made our way southward vid Quilimane, arriving at Chinde on December 22. Mr. Sharpe, who had succeeded Sir Harry Johnston as Her Majesty's Commissioner and Consul-General, was at this time returning to England on leave of absence. Under his guidance the fortunes of British Central Africa had remained comparatively undisturbed for a period of Pkato. Elliott and Fry. SIR ALFRED SHARI'E, K.C.M.G., C.B. Il.M. Commissioner and Consul.Gener.il for the British Central Africa Protectorate. eighteen months ; but almost simultaneously with his departure a serious outbreak occurred among Mpeseni's Angoni... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.