Chapter 70: Mombasa
March 11, 1867
Mombasa was one of the only ports in East Africa that could rival Dar es Salaam in importance. This port had originally been built by Arabs in the 11th century.
Now, with the signing of the East Zanzibar Treaty, Mombasa—Zanzibar Sultanate's second most important port—had also fallen into the hands of the East African colony. To improve Mombasa's operations, the colonial government began renovating its port infrastructure.
Today, Mombasa had a high of 33°C and a low of 22°C.
Working at the port during the day was hot and stuffy, but still bearable.
Colonial soldiers were directing Black slaves, who pushed wheelbarrows back and forth carrying sand and stones through the port area. The entire clearance work at the port was done by these slaves.
These Black slaves were originally assets of the Zanzibar Sultanate. Since the colonial handover was not yet complete, the East African colonial government temporarily requisitioned them.
Besides the soldiers and slaves overseeing the renovations, the rest of the workforce consisted mainly of Chinese laborers and immigrants from the Austrian Empire.
To repair and renovate this important port city, the colonial government of Mombasa allocated its last stock of cement.
Currently, all cement in the colony was imported by ship from Europe, so it was in limited supply.
On the dock, an Austrian immigrant named Mitrovich was leading workers in building the port structures.
Mitrovich was a South Slavic peasant from the southern part of the Austrian Empire. His advantage was that he had gone to school for two years and had helped build a church in his hometown, so the Mombasa colonial government appointed him as a foreman to supervise construction.
In those days, most peasants had some handy skills—basic repairs were common, since the same old house often lasted four or five generations.
So even though Chinese workers hadn't used cement before, once Austrian immigrants demonstrated how to use it, they quickly picked it up. It was really just replacing mud with cement.
Several workers used iron rods to pry off loose and rotted bricks, and some even compacted the earth foundation.
Nearby, other workers shoveled broken bricks and rubble into wheelbarrows. Once full, they pushed them to the shore to dump the waste onto temporary mounds, which might later be used for road bedding.
"Here—build it up to half a meter," Mitrovich told the workers.
He held a measuring stick, showing the correct level with his hand to help the Chinese laborers understand.
"Like this, got it?" he asked.
This was the downside of a language barrier—communication required a lot of gestures. Although both sides knew a little German, it wasn't enough.
Many Austrian immigrants spoke German, but most only knew a few phrases, maybe learned from the nobility who ruled them.
Chinese immigrants had received some German education, usually through temporary classes set up in the colony, which taught basic vocabulary and phrases.
But with limited time and no German-speaking environment (since early immigrants were almost all Chinese except for German mercenaries), there wasn't much use for German. Sometimes even students from the Hohenzollern Military Academy had to act as translators.
However, East Africa didn't just accept anyone as a worker. Only older immigrants who knew at least a little German were qualified to work in the colony.
So both Austrian and Chinese immigrants working in Mombasa spoke some German—just not very well.
In the colony, laborers were relatively few. But as soon as a Chinese immigrant left the fields to work, their status rose.
Currently, East African colonial society ranked soldiers above workers, and workers above farmers. And only those who knew some German (even just a little) could become workers or soldiers—otherwise, they had to stick to farming.
Chinese laborers were at the same social level as Austrian immigrants who still worked as farmers—and this was reflected in their wages.
Austrian immigrants were no fools. They wouldn't settle for just a full meal—they wanted real benefits.
Although they didn't have the strength to resist colonial rule, they still had the courage to fight for their legal rights.
After all, when they boarded ships to East Africa, they still had some hope for a better life.
The colonial government hadn't let them down. Although the pay was low, it was stable, and since East Africa had virtually no entertainment, there was nowhere to spend money. So over time, their savings grew.
Now, the government had even started using a ledger system—since it couldn't print money, the currency in immigrants' hands was "virtual."
When needed, they could withdraw money from the Hohenzollern Bank based on their account records. So far, only the German mercenaries had used this system.
German mercenaries came to East Africa purely to earn money. Technically, they weren't immigrants. Their families were still in Europe, and they could keep in touch. If their families needed money, they could request an advance from the Hohenzollern Bank to send it home.
As evening approached, Mombasa Port was more than halfway renovated.
After all, Africa didn't have many notable goods to export, so freight traffic was low. Mombasa wasn't considered a large port globally.
At most, it had some status in East Africa—and that's why renovation progress was quick.
Of course, the use of slaves helped a lot. Since the colonial handover wasn't finished and the Sultanate of Zanzibar's local residents hadn't fully withdrawn, the East African colonial government temporarily used the slaves taken from places like Uganda.
Once ships became available, the government planned to ship both the slaves and the local Zanzibar residents to Zanzibar Island.
Because Sultan Majid had grown senile in his later years, Mombasa Port had fallen into disrepair. Silt had built up, and the port's transport capacity had greatly declined.
Right now, agriculture was the colony's most important industry, and as a bulk commodity, grain needed significant shipping capacity.
Not to mention immigration, machinery, and the docking of merchant ships from various countries—all required East Africa to have more high-quality ports.
And Africa lacked good ports to begin with, so making use of the ones available was crucial.
Currently, Bagamoyo Port was also under construction. Once complete, the East African colony would have four high-quality ports: Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, Tanga, and Mombasa—greatly improving its transport capabilities.
After renovations, Mombasa's port roads were widened by double and reinforced with layers of gravel and construction waste.
The docks were widened and strengthened, unsafe structures dismantled, hazards checked and resolved, and outdated facilities replaced.
Now, Mombasa Port had about 1.5 times its previous transport capacity. As the northernmost key port in the colony, it was poised to replace Dar es Salaam and Tanga.
Once the Suez Canal opened in the future, Mombasa would handle shipping between Europe and Asia, becoming East Africa's most important and busiest port.
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