some of which resembled the proposed Uganda Line, the average cost of these was about £7,000 per mile. He stated that these were not subject to many of the drawbacks which affected the Uganda Route.

In 1895 it was determined that the railway should be constructed by Government, and, on December 11th in the same year, Mr. (now Sir George) Whitehouse, the chief engineer, and his staff arrived at the Island of Mombasa.

THE FIXTURE AND CHARACTER OF THE ROUTE.

It was originally intended that the railway should connect Mombasa with Port Victoria, on Lake Victoria, but, as the result of further surveys, it was found that the length of the railway would be reduced by 93 miles by running it to the head of Kavirondo Gulf. The station at that point has been named Port Florence.

The country traversed by the railway is, to a great extent, desert, and, as a rule, waterless, sparsely populated, and without resources. Most of the Island of Mombasa was thick jungle.

From the coast to the summit of the Kikuyn escarpment, about 300 miles inland, there is a general rise to the height of 7,000 ft. At this point comes a sudden descent of about 1,500 ft. into the Great Rift valley, which has an average width of about twenty-eight miles, and extends north and south considerably beyond the limits of British territory on either side. On the opposite side of the rift is the Mau escarpment, similar and parallel to the Kikuyu escarpment, but even more formidable, rising to the height of about 8,500 ft., and about 2,500 ft. above the floor of the rift. The country then falls sharply towards the level of Lake Victoria.

From the coast towards the lake the first fifteen miles is cultivated; then there is a sparsely wooded tract, about thirty miles wide. and the Taru desert, fifty miles in width, which is absolutely waterless, and covered with almost impenetrable jungle; next is another hundred and fifty miles of jungle, not quite so dense. with very little water, except the Tsavo river, about hundred and thirty miles from the coast ; and then the Athi plains stretch for about fifty

miles, which are treeless and almost waterless. Up to this point there is no shade from the sun; the jungle only serves to shut out all wind. and the water is hard and brackish. Beyond, the character of the country changes abruptly; it becomes well wooded, cultivated, and intersected by numerous streams. The slopes of the escarpments are covered with dense forest. All the Rift lakes except Lake Naivasha, are salt.

Shortly after leaving the coast the line surmounts the Rabai hills, crosses the Taru desert to Voi, then follows the course of the Mto-wamawe valley, and across the Athi plains to Nairobi; next it crosses the Kikuyu escarpment down into the Great Rift valley and over the Mau escarpment, and descends to the shores of the Victoria Nyanza. At the Kikuyu escarpment, mile 355 from the coast, the line had to climb to a height of 7,900 ft., then descend to

6,000 ft. At mile 430, and again at the Mau escarpment, mile 490, it had to climb to 8,320 ft., descending to the lake at a level of 3,726 ft. above the sea, at mile 584. Over the greater part of the last hundred miles of this route, previous to September, 1898, no European had ever trodden. Commander Whitehouse in a paper read before the Society of Arts, said: "Never before has a railway been built under such extraordinary conditions, or caused such radical changes in the country through which it has passed."

The railway has comparatively long stretches of easy work, but the great altitude which has to be reached, the sudden ascents and descents, the severity of the gradients, and the sharpness of the curves, necessary to avoid expensive construction, involve difficulties equal to those of a mountain railway. Permanent telegraph wires on suitable iron posts follow the railway.

There are thirty-two permanent stations on the line, and its total length from Mombasa to Port Florence is 586 miles. The ruling gradient is I in 50. The sharpest curve on the main line is of 537 ft. radius. All along the line the Chief Engineer took up an ample amount of land on either side, partly for the purposes of extensions, etc., and partly to prevent speculators buying it up at a very low price, and then putting a high price upon it. The surveys and sections for the whole line were not completed until April,

1900.

THE DIFFICULTIES AND COUNTERACTING
ADVANTAGEOUS CONDITIONS.

This railway is unique in the fact that nowhere before had a railway been constructed amid such great difficulties, and in so short a space of time.

Sir Guilford Molesworth, in his report

of 1899, said: "Great credit is due to the Chief Engineer for the manner in which he has initiated and developed this organisation under circumstances of unparalleled difficulty." He also said, concerning the descent into the Great Rift Valley: "I consider the whole line, as staked out from Nairobi to the lowest point of the descent, a distance of forty-nine miles, both in conception and execution, a masterpiece of engineering skill, which reflects the greatest credit upon all concerned." When Mr. (now Sir George) Whitehouse first went out to Mombasa he had to construct extensive jetties, and erect cranes for the landing of railway material and stores, to lay down moorings and buoys, and to sink wells, at the port of Kilindini, which is on the opposite side of the Island of Mombasa, and had been selected by Captain Macdonald in preference to Mombasa itself. Then a line had to be constructed with a gradient of 1 in 50 from the jetties to the railway station, which is some 70 ft. or 80 ft. above the sea level. No steam launches were available, and all labour had to be imported from a distant country, namely, India, and housed on arrival. The members

of the staff were new to one another, to the country, and to the conditions of working. No supplies whatever were available, and everything had to be imported. The country was in a disturbed state, and survey parties could not be sent out at first without a military escort.

The first engineering difficulty that was met with was that of crossing the arm of the sea between the island and the mainland. Captain Macdonald suggested in his scheme the building of an embankment, but this was found to be impossible, as the strait is 14 ft. deep, and has a tide running at four knots an hour. The construction of a temporary wooden bridge was immediately commenced, pending the building of the permanent one of steel, as no work could be carried out on the mainland until this was achieved. This temporary structure made a diversion of two miles necessary. Following this the Rabai hills had to be surmounted, involving some of the heaviest work on the line. To push on the rails rapidly it was necessary to put in a considerable length of temporary line. Similar temporary diversions, beginning at the Macupa bridge, mile 2, were adopted at intervals along the line. The locomotive power was insufficient at first, and it was difficult to keep railhead supplied with materials. At about mile 50 the line enters the Taru desert, which has been referred to, and the earthwork here was a mere nothing when compared with the difficulty of clearing away the jungle, which will not burn readily, and grubbing up the stumps. From mile 162, to Kibwezi, mile 193, the work was very heavy, and necessitated numerous diversions, several considerable bridges, embankments, and rock cuttings. In consequence of the general character of the line and of the numerous diversions, an abnormally large number of locomotives was required in order to insure satisfactory progress. At mile 362 four temporary rope inclines had to be constructed with great labour. The reason for the construction of these inclines is dealt with hereafter.