British East Africa 69 POSTS ; PORTS fathoms. Manda Bay, between Manda and Patta Islands, has deep -water approaches and capacious anchorage in 6 fathoins, but offers little prospect of extensive trade ; whereas the narrow and shoal-encum bered harbour of Lamu owes a considerable coasting traffic to the proximity of the provincial capital.

Further south, the TanaRiver, diverted bythe Belaso Canal, finds an outlet by way of the Ozi River, and delivers the produce of the Tana Valley to dhows in the anchorage behind Ozi Reefs . Malindi Road, with anchorage in six fathoms over sand and coral, is the harbour of the most productive district on the coast.

Kilifi River and Wasin Channel are the only other anchorages calling for mention, with the exception of the important harbours of Mombasa .

While the otherislands along the coast lie well off the shore, Mombasa is close to the mainland, which it faces on three sides across narrow channels . Those east, north , and west of the island constitute the har bours of Port Mombasa, Port Tudor, and Port Kilin dini respectively. A large creek opening out west ward from the northern extremity of the Kilindini Channel forms a fourth harbour, called Port Reitz, with extensive anchorage in depths ranging from 3 to 15 fathoms.

Port Mombasa and Port Tudor have narrow channels, with anchorage in 7 to 12 fathoms. Port Mombasa is still frequented by all kinds of smaller vessels ; it is pro vided with two iron piers, and offers facilities for coaling by lighters, though at present the provisionfor towing, as at Kilindini, is quite inadequate. The larger ocean-going vessels prefer Port Kilindini , a har bour over two miles long, a quarter of a mile wide, and 8 to 25 fathoms deep. This is the finest natural harbour on the coast, and has already displaced Port Mombasa as the chief terminus port of the Uganda Railway. It has a railway wharf, 550 ft. long, with considerable warehouse accommodation, and cranes capable of dealing with weights up to 20 tons.

Ten miles off the shore of East Africa the current runs towards the north -east at 1 to 2 knots in the north а .