On hearing of our arrival, our missionary friends had all started off to greet us. They described it as a little bit of England to see seven cyclists coming along with an impress of home which the five weeks’ knocking about had not quite obliterated. The first one to meet us must have been guilty of scorching, as he was far ahead of the others, and he was determined to give us a real taste of Uganda right away, for he produced from his pocket some bananas (shall I own it, rather squashy) wrapped up in a newspaper; they were good! Next came along a mule, bearing towards us Bishop Tucker, who had come out to welcome his new recruits. I do not remember quite distinctly the other faces, for we were literally hemmed in by scores of excited natives, hustling, bustling, clapping, and chattering, seizing our hands and thanking us for having come so far to them, while tears of gratitude glistened on some of their splendid, intelligent, brown faces. CHAPTER III Mengo, Uganda Judging from the view obtained from this, the native capital of Uganda, Mengo, the country seems composed of hills. On one of these stands the cathedral and missionaries’ houses, and the splendid hospital, then just ready to be opened (but since burnt down), and holding fifty to sixty beds. The Roman Catholic Mission commands another hill, while on the highest is the King’s palace. The head man of the district builds at the top of each hill, and his dependents live round, their site being determined by their social position. The whole district is densely populated, but this is difficult at first to see, as the huts harmonize with the vegetation around, or are hidden by the large banana plantations that surround each dwelling. What strikes a new arrival are the very wide, well-made roads that have been cut in various directions, quite a novel feature for Africa. Living out here is necessarily very simple. The English houses then resembled bungalows constructed of poles and light, long reeds sewn together by means of a black fibre: two layers formed the walls, with dried leaves stuffed between, the roof being thatched with grass. The floors were beaten earth, with skins or grass mats thrown down in place of carpets. There were only outside doors, pieces of terra cotta coloured bark cloth being hung as curtains between the inside doorways. The apertures made in the walls for windows were closed in at night by shutters of sewn reeds. The rooms looked distinctly rural, with bookshelves, wardrobes, and cabinets made with packing cases of uniform size stacked one upon another. A few native curios and chairs placed about were rather more useful than ornamental. [Illustration: A GROUP OF BAGANDA. _Photo by D. V. F. Figueira, Mombasa._]