naturally suspicious and piratical nature of the people, who have been accustomed for centuries to prey upon one another, and between whom blood feuds and tribal incursions are of traditional meritoriousness.

Occasionally a punitive expedition must, perforce, be entered upon in order to vindicate the authority of Government which has been defied; and in connexion with such an undertaking the discretion of the officer in charge is put to a severe test. Headquarters would scarcely be pleased were any armed interference to be entered upon lightly; nevertheless probably any action, if taken at all, calls for urgency. An officer may entertain doubts concerning the subsequent approval of his superior, but prompt and vigorous measures may well mean the instant repression of a tribal disturbance, which, if allowed to remain unattended to, even for a few hours, may develop into trouble of far greater significance and call for wider measures of repression. Herein comes the opportunity of the responsible official to show his powers of discrimination; and it speaks eloquently for the generally dependable character of the officials employed that so few of them have been found lacking in this essential.

If the Anglo-Egyptian administration of the Sudan has hitherto proved a success, it is chiefly due to the experience which England has gained in the management of semi-barbarous peoples, to the skill with which the machinery of Government has been devised, and to the care which has been throughout bestowed on the selection of the officials on whom so great a responsibility is thrown. A summary view of the progress of the country under British rule forms a natural sequel to the foregoing account of the system by which it is governed. Lord Rosebery has declared that 'the British Empire is the greatest secular agency for good known in the world.' To realise the justice of this statement one has but to glance at the condition of Egypt to-day, and compare its peaceful prosperity with the anarchic situation of, say, 1882-4. But the transformation which has been accomplished there in the space of thirty years has been exceeded in completeness by the Sudan within one-half of that time. This beneficial change, moreover, has come

about without réclame, almost without remark; the channel through which the course of events may best be traced is that of the official blue books, which few people take the trouble to read.

The secret of the success achieved in the Sudan by the administration, which is but little changed in regard to its personnel since the commencement of its work in 1899, may perhaps be found in the strict application of Lord Cromer's policy foreshadowed at the time when the country passed under joint British and Egyptian control. Addressing an assembly of Sudanese Sheikhs and notables at Omdurman on January 5, 1899, Lord Cromer, then British Agent in Egypt, said:

No attempt will be made to govern your country from Cairo, still less from London. You must look to the Sirdar alone for justice and good government. I do not doubt that you will have no cause for disappointment.'

This pledge has been consistently upheld, and it would be difficult to point to a people more thoroughly content with their government than the Sudanese, who have found their rulers animated by a spirit of justice and moderation entirely different from anything of the kind experienced in former times. Whatever qualms or misgivings this largely Mohammedan people may have entertained upon passing under the control of Christian rulers, were dispelled by Lord Cromer's further assurance: There will be no interference whatever in your religion." There has been none; neither has the dreaded religious question-sensitive and fanatical though the people remain-as yet occasioned any offence to Moslem subjects nor any cause for anxiety to their Christian governors. In the Sudan, as in Egypt, Islam is not only a religion; it is a political system; it is also a phase-and an important phase-of social life. Bearing in mind that the changes effected in the political and social customs of a Moslem people are almost invariably achieved at the expense of loyalty to the religion of Islam, the Administration of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan has shown much wisdom by interfering as little as possible with the customs and prejudices of the Moslem world; on the other hand, it has sought to encourage the practice of Mohammedanism among the people, thus further acting

upon the sound judgment of Lord Cromer, who has expressed the opinion that in introducing European civilisation it should never be forgotten that Islam cannot be reformed; that is to say, reformed Islam is Islam no longer; it becomes something else.

Some critics consider that the Administration of the Sudan, by following the British policy in Egypt and making the form of government so largely pro-Moslem, has acted wrongly. They cite as an example the closing of all Government offices on Friday-the Moslem sabbath —and the opening of them on Sunday-the Christian day of rest; and they contend that this concession to Islam, far from creating a favourable impression upon the native mind, has developed in Moslem ranks a spirit of pride which leads to the belief that Islam is accepted as superior to Christianity, and that the votary of Mohammed enjoys a right of precedence over the worshipper of Christ. This contention, I think, may best be answered by pointing to the fact that though the ruling class in the Sudan is mainly Christian, the Christians are in a great minority, the proportion among the employees of the Government being less than one-half per cent., while among the population in general it is not more than between 8 and 10 per cent. It is obviously impossible to allow two holidays in a week, and in view of the immensely larger proportion of Mohammedans the preference must necessarily be given to the followers of Islam. On the other hand, all Christians can, if they choose, attend the services of their church twice on Sunday, for the office hours on that day are arranged so as to permit of this with the greatest facility. Officials are on duty for a few hours only in the forenoon, being rarely called upon to do more than glance through their departmental correspondence with a view to attending to any imperatively important matters. A special governmental order has long been in force designed to smooth the path of all Christian employees carrying out their religious obligations.

Nor would it appear that complete satisfaction has been reached in connexion with the religious instruction given at the Gordon Memorial College at Khartoum, the amount of time devoted to the teaching of Christianity being deemed insufficient. But the percentage of

Christian scholars in Sudan educational establishments is so small that it has been found impracticable to have separate religious instruction for each denomination. As a matter of fact, however, non-Mohammedan pupils are afforded corresponding instruction in their own faith should their parents so desire, and provided a teacher is available; and such is the case in all primary schools.

So far as the teaching of the Mohammedan religion is concerned, it may be pointed out that such religious instruction is only imparted to those pupils who are destined to become Kadis-i.e. religious judges-and teachers in the Sudan. Other pupils merely read the Korán, and receive no special religious education. The proportion of school-hours allotted to the study of Islamism each week cannot be regarded as excessive, amounting as it does to one hour daily during the four years that the primary course of study continues, as compared with eight hours per week for Arabic and the same for English, five hours for arithmetic, and three each for geometry and map-drawing.

Since the reoccupation of the Sudan, education has advanced with remarkable continuity along the original lines of the scheme for public instruction evolved, with care and forethought, by the late Director, Mr James Currie, C.M.G., who held the post of Director of Education for fifteen years. But one need not go back more than ten years to perceive how great has been the progress made in the number of pupils receiving instruction at the various schools in the Sudan. In 1905, the total was 2605, which showed an increase of 472 over the number of the previous year. At the end of 1913 there were 5226 pupils, of whom 5000 were Moslems. Little effort has been made hitherto to educate women, while the institution of some simple educational system among the negroid races of the Southern Sudan has yet to be tried.

Next to education the greatest success achieved has been in the direction of transportation. It is not easy to exaggerate the perplexity of the problems which confronted the Administration when, in 1899, they took formal possession of nearly one million square miles of country, a country almost as large as Argentina, the exact limits of which were still subjects of dispute with other nations-France, Belgium, Italy and Abyssinia.

Since then delimitation commissions have settled all outstanding boundary questions; and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan now presents itself as a compact and mature Protectorate, more than nine-tenths of which are wisely and justly administered, the other tenth being uninhabitable for Europeans or even Egyptians.

To hope to cover such a wide expanse of country by anything approaching a complete system of railways was obviously out of the question. There existed neither the money to pay for it, nor the population to make use of it. Nevertheless much has been accomplished, for the length of railway-track now in operation exceeds 1500 miles, whereas in 1896 there existed less than 50 miles of line, and this was merely an old old and useless military track. The gross railway revenue has risen from E124,4167. in 1903 to E516,8767. in 1913, while the percentage of working expenses to gross revenue has been reduced from 110.2 to 76.7 per cent.

The navigation of the Nile has progressed almost equally well; a first-class fleet of steamers, belonging exclusively to the Government, now plies upon the waters of the Nile. No private company is permitted to carry passengers or freight in competition; but the ports are open to the shipping of the whole world, and show a satisfactory increase in the tonnage recorded. The international tonnage of vessels visiting Port Sudanthe principal port in the country-rose from 312,770 in 1907 to nearly 700,000 in 1914. Since the Government established regular mail steamers-which, in the face of many physical difficulties (of which shortage of water is the worst), are maintained throughout the year-great improvement in the carrying trade has been manifested. The rank vegetation known as 'sudd,' which formerly acted as a continual menace to the river navigation, has now been for the most part removed, and even where found still existing in great quantities is prevented from closing the channel to steamers passing to and fro. In 1905 the 'sudd' was found so obstructive, and so persistently blocked navigation on the Upper Nile, that a whole fleet of steamers had to be engaged to do battle against it. To-day one hardly hears of any serious delay being occasioned through this cause; and even the less-used channels are being freed.

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