The edited letters of Francis Hall are among the earliest colonial records of daily life in British East Africa. He commanded Fort Smith near present day Nairobi with orders to build roads, to re-supply trading and military caravans from the coast, and to keep the peace between the Kikuyu and the Maasai. Every day was an adventure. He was gored by a rhino, mauled by a leopard that he strangled to death and survived frequent bouts of malaria.
On leave in England he married Bee Russell and they set up house in Fort Smith. But the railway from Mombasa arrived at the turn of the century and the Halls were moved to Machakos and to Mbirri in Kikuyuland to establish a new fort. Six months later Francis Hall was dead from blackwater fever aged 41. Kikuyu District is a unique and fascinating account of the life of an early colonial administratopr and settler.