The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-01

and shinest of stove black. Many Of them have their faces scared with gashes and scars. denoting the tribe to which they belong, and could we read the marks we should find that their homes are located in all parts of the regions tapped by the Blue and White Niles. 1 saw some who came from the province of Bahr of Ghazal, away up on the edge of the Congo Free State. Others were from villages in Fashoda, near the river Sobat, and others from the borders of Abyssinia and from the regions along the Red sea. There were quite a number who are the sons of the richer chiefs of Kordofan and Dar-Fur. and not a few from Dongola and Berger. Some of the boys were dressed in the fez caps and gowns of Egypt and others wore the white turbans and long robes of the peo- pie of central Africa. Among them were Coptie and Mohammedan Egyptians, some few Bedouins and here and there q negro.
 Many of the students have features like ours. Their noses are straight. their lips thin and .their. hair not knky although they are black. Such boys are not ne- groes. They are the descendants of peo- pie from Arabia, and their ancestors had reached q high degree of civilization dur ing the Middle Ages when the Arabic schools and universities were noted over the world.
 For the Sons of Sheiks.
 The college here is divided into three departments. The first is for the sons of sheiks and is devoted to the training of teachers for the Mohammedan schools and Of judges and other officials for the Mohammedan courts. The British are governing the Sudan as far as possible through the natives. They respect the native religions and the native language. and therefore the instruction in this part of the college is altogether in Arabic. The students are taught the Koran and the Koranic law; they write all their ex- ercises in Arabic, take dictation in Arabic and are well founded in the Mohamne- dan religion and especially as it bears upon the government of the people. They are fine looking fellows, dressed almost uniformly in turbans and gowns, and they have the arstocratie bearing which shows them to be the sons of chiefs.
 After Government Jobs.
 The second department of the college is filled by those who hope to get minor ap- pointments under the government or by general education to fiji themselves for business and private citizenship. In the department both English and Arabic are liuElll. AunN or lnt DoNS are NouuS. In one classroom l found a score of brown and black-faced pupils learning to write English, and none of them was over F years of age. The most of the boys wore fez caps and black gowns They stood up as 1 entered in company with the president of the college, and then rose to their feet again as we left. In this college surveying Is taught. l WAS shown some excellent mechanical draw ngs, and some plans worked up from field notes. These were, of course, in the higher classes. The education is thor ough. and q boy can get d training that will fit him for most any branch of life or for any profession which can be car ried on in the Sudan.
 1 was especially interested in the man ual training school which is well equipped with blacksmith and carpenter shops. l found a score or so of young Arabs making various things of wrought iron. They were turning ont fences and ornamental iron gates. In the carpenter shops they were making library cases and other furniture and learning about house building and finishing. There are also machine shops where the students g work at lathes, and altogether the insli- tuition has well equipped outfit for man. ual training. Every work shop is under the charge of an English professor who Is a practical mechanic, and the boys are given such instruction that they can as soon as they are graduated find places on the plantations of the Sudan. Indeed, the demand for such work is far in excess ,.gt tt,,o