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MOMBASA

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 683 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MOMBASA , the See also:

principal seaport of See also:British See also:East See also:Africa, in 40 4' S., 390 43' E., 150 M. N. of See also:Zanzibar. Pop. about 30,000. Mombasa is built on a coralline See also:island which nearly fills the mouth of a deep See also:arm of the See also:sea. The channel on either See also:side of the island—Mombasa to the N.E., Kilindini to the S.W.—affords safe harbourage, and each leads to a deeper ramification of the sea, Mombasa See also:Harbour to See also:Port Tudor, Kilindini Harbour to Port Reitz. Mombasa See also:town is on the N.E. side of the island, 2 M. from Kilindini, with which it is connected by See also:rail and tramways. Viewed from the sea Mombasa has a picturesque See also:appearance, the most conspicuous See also:object being the fort, built on a See also:coral See also:hill 40 ft. high. Except for the See also:main See also:street and See also:Government Square (See also:close to the harbour and containing the customs-See also:house and other See also:official buildings), Mombasa proper presents the usual aspect of an See also:Oriental See also:city—a See also:maze of narrow, irregular streets and lanes. To the See also:south, overlooking the sea, is the See also:European suburb. There are See also:Anglican and See also:Roman See also:Catholic churches (the Roman Catholic See also:church and See also:mission house is one of the finest buildings in Mombasa), mission See also:schools, See also:Hindu, Parsee, and See also:Mahommedan temples, and hospitals and See also:law courts, the last named completed in 1902. Built into the See also:facade of the courts is a See also:stone with an inscription recording the See also:building of a fort, dedicated to St See also:Joseph, by the Portuguese at Kilindini in 1666. This stone was found in the ruins of Fort St Joseph.

Mombasa Fort, or citadel, quadrangular in See also:

form, was built by the Portuguese in 1593–1595 (as an inscription in the interior testifies), was dedicated to the Saviour, and known as the Jesus Fort. It bears the See also:symbol I.H.S. The fort was repaired by Seixas de Cabreira in 1635, the restoration being recorded in an inscription over the gateway. By the British authorities the fort is used as a military See also:store and central See also:gaol. In the public See also:garden on the point of the town facing the sea a See also:bronze statue of See also:Sir See also:William Mackinnon—to whom Mombasa owes its See also:renaissance—has been placed. The See also:population of the city is See also:cosmopolitan, with three well-marked racial distinctions: the Arab (See also:Swahili), the See also:Indian and the European. The See also:climate is fairly healthy, and Europeans live there with comfort. The harbour at Mombasa is more than a mile in length, but only 1200 ft. in width. It is consequently not so suitable for large See also:ships as Kilindini (" the See also:place of deep See also:water "), which possesses the finest See also:land-locked harbour on the East See also:Coast of Africa. The entrance is about the same width as that of Mombasa, but Kilindini Harbour widens to 2 m. and is 3 M. See also:long, the See also:depth of water varying from 25 to 30 fathoms. Kilindini is a See also:depot of the British See also:navy. Port Reitz, which opens out of Kilindini Harbour westward, is 4 M. long and 1 m. broad, with excellent anchorage.

At Kilindini is a See also:

pier alongside which ships 450 ft. in length and See also:drawing 27 ft. can load and unload See also:cargo. Here is the virtual See also:terminus of the See also:Uganda railway, and the offices, workshops and See also:hospital connected therewith, also a See also:branch customs-house. The Uganda railway crosses to the mainland on a See also:bridge, i m. long, built over the shallow channel which on the See also:north-See also:west separates the island from the See also:continent. Mombasa is the outlet for the produce of a large See also:tract of territory, including the European settlements in the See also:highlands of the See also:protectorate, and by means of the railway to See also:Victoria See also:Nyanza taps the See also:rich regions of the See also:Nile See also:sources. See also:German, British, See also:French and See also:Austrian See also:mail-boats See also:call regularly at the port, which is connected by submarine See also:cable with Zanzibar. See also:Trade See also:statistics are included in those of British East Africa (q.v.). Mombasa Island (named after the town) is 3 M. long by 22 M. broad, with an See also:area of 9 sq. m. Except at the western end, the coast of the island consists of cliffs from 40 ft. to 6o ft. high. The island contains many fertile plantations, chiefly of coco-See also:nut palms, except on the side facing the ocean, where there is little vegetation, the coral reefs being but thinly covered with See also:earth. There are no springs and the island is dependent for water on See also:rain collected in tanks or See also:drawn from See also:wells—the latter brackish. Ruins of Arab, Portuguese and See also:Turkish buildings are found in various parts of the island. At See also:Ras Serani are the ruins of a See also:chapel " Nossa Senhora das Merces," built by the Portuguese in the 17th See also:century on the site of a Turkish fort, and afterwards turned into a fort again by the See also:Arabs.

Mombasa takes its name from Mombasa in See also:

Oman. A Perso-Arabic See also:settlement was made here about the filth century. It is mentioned by See also:Ibn Batuta in 1331 as a large place, and at the See also:time of Vasco da Gama's visit (1498) it was the seat of consider-able See also:commerce, its inhabitants including a number of See also:Calicut Banyans and Oriental Christians. The ruler of the city tried to entrap da Gama (or so the Portuguese navigator imagined), .and with this began a See also:series of See also:campaigns which gave full force to its Swahili name Mvita (See also:war). The principal incidents are the See also:capture and burning of the place by See also:Almeida (1505), Nuno da Cunha (1529), and Duarte de Menezes (1587)—this last as a revenge for its submission to the See also:sultan of See also:Constantinople—the revolt and See also:flight (1631) of Yusuf ibn Ahmed (who murdered all the Portuguese in the town—over too), and the three-years' See also:siege by the See also:imam of Omam 1696–98(the See also:garrison being reduced to eleven men and two See also:women), ending in the See also:expulsion of the Portuguese. From the 12th of See also:March 1728 to the 29th of See also:November 1729 a Portuguese force from See also:Goa again held Mombasa, when they were finally driven out by the See also:Muscat Arabs. In See also:December 1823 the Mazrui See also:family, who had ruled in Mombasa from the See also:early See also:part of the 18th century, first as representatives of Oman, afterwards as practically See also:independent princes, placed the city under British See also:protection; and in See also:February 1824 Lieut. J. J. Reitz was appointed commandant or See also:resident at the city by See also:Captain (afterwards See also:Vice-See also:Admiral) W. F. W.

See also:

Owen. Reitz, after whom Port Reitz is named, died at Mombasa either in 1824 or 1825. The protectorate was repudiated by the British government, which See also:left the place to be bombarded and captured by Seyyid Said of Oman, who made repeated attacks between 1829 and 1833, and only got See also:possession in 1837 by treachery. Said thereafter made Zanzibar his See also:capital, Mombasa becoming of secondary importance. A revolt against Zanzibar in 1875 was put down with British assistance. The British government in the following See also:year vetoed a proposal by the See also:khedive See also:Ismail to annex Mombasa and its See also:hinterland up to the See also:equatorial lakes to See also:Egypt—a project which originated with See also:General C. G. See also:Gordon, when that officer administered the Upper Nile provinces. In 1887 the city was handed over by the sultan of Zanzibar to the British for See also:administration. It became the capital of the See also:province of Seyyidie and of the East Africa protectorate. In 1907, how-ever , the seat of the central government was removed to See also:Nairobi (q.v.). Mombasa still forms, nominally, part of the sultanate of Zanzibar.

The city, together with Malindi, is mentioned in See also:

Paradise Lost.

End of Article: MOMBASA

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