30 JANUARY 1909, Page 11

SOME AFRICAN HIGHWAYS.

Some African Highways. By Caroline Kirkland. (Duckworth and Co. Os. net.)—Miss Kirkland is distinctly Anglophil ; but she sees with the clearness of the outside observer what May not be so evident to us. "They [the English] are apt to take it for granted that because they establish and maintain a better rule they are entirely acceptable to an alien and savage people." This is written a propos of Uganda, whore, while all seems smooth, there is, she thinks, some trouble at work. Such hints are truly acts of friendship, and not, we hope, given in vain. For the rest, the book is a lively, and oven brilliant, record of travel. After a preliminary historical sketch, we have "From Naples to Mom- basa," a journey made with the assistance of an Italian maid,— Miss Kirkland strongly recommends the nationality. The travellers, Miss Kirkland and her mother, rea,ohed Mombasa at nightfall, and two hours afterwards went out to dinner. "Wherever the English go," she says, "they take the forms of life with them." After this we hear of the Uganda Railway, the most marvellous line in the world, where not long ago you had the chance of having a lion jump into your carriage, and where now you can see a zoological garden, so to speak, out of the window. The railway took the travellers to the Victoria Nyanza,* and thirty hours on board a steamship brought them to Entebbe, the English capital of Uganda,—the native boy-King lives at Kampala. Life at Entebbe is picturesquely described, one of its scenes being the celebration of King Edward's birthday. After this comes a foil to the brightness, an account, which Miss Kirk- land has taken pains, she tells us, to brieg up to date, of the sleeping sickness. Then we have a description of the Baganda, who rank high among African peoples, both in looks and in manners. Other places were visited and other topics are dealt with; every- where and always we feel ourselves to be in the company of an intelligent and friendly observer.