water, or a few palm-trees, there are to be | Suaheli coast, in the Arab sultanate of found the uncouth followers of the Proph- Zanzibar. The followers of the Prophet et. In the larger oases of Aderer and are settled in considerable numbers in Agades, Tafilet and Tidikelt, Wargla and northern Madagascar and in Mozambique; Ghadames, Bilma and Tibesti, they are to and far inland-chiefly, it is sad to say, be found in numbers, and the great cara- as slave-traders - around all the great vans which pass and repass the desert, lakes, and along all the upper reaches of twice in each year, from Morocco to Tim- the Congo; and southward of this again, buctoo, or from Tripoli to Lake Tchad, they are to be found scattered here and exchanging the hardware and cotton stuffs there, always anxious to propagate their of England with the ground-nuts, or gold creed, even among the "unbelieving' dust, or ostrich feathers, or slaves of the Kaffirs and, still further afield, in Cape Soudan, are managed by Muslims only, Colony. It is hardly too much to say that and pass, from none but Muslim, to none one-half of the whole of Africa is already but Muslim countries. dominated by Islam, while, of the remaining half, one-quarter is leavened and another threatened by it. Such is the amazing, the portentous problem which Christianity and civilization have to face in Africa, and to which neither of them seems, as yet, half awake.

South of the Sahara, Islam holds almost exclusive possession of the most fertile and the most populous region of Africa, the enormous stretch of country called Negroland, or the Soudan, extending from the Niger to the Nile, or, to speak more accurately, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, and including the powerful, and organized, or at least semicivilized, governments of Futa Jallon, of Bambarra, of Massena, of Gando, of Sokoto, of Bornu, of Baghirmi, of Wadai, of Darfur, of Khordofan, and of Sennaar. Beyond this region, towards the Gulf of Guinea, some of the most widely extended and vigorous and intelligent negro tribes - tribes whose prowess we have experienced, whether fighting on our side or fighting against us, in the Ashantee or other wars -the Mandingoes and the Foulahs, the Jollofs and the Haussas, are, to a man almost, Mohammedan. And, even along the coast-line, where various European powers, the French, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Danes, the English, the Spaniards, or the Germans, have, at various times, planted their commercial settlements, and where they can boast of a narrow and superficial fringe of Christianity and civilization as the result, the trader missionaries, or missionary traders of Islam - for, in Africa, they are, generally, both in one-are pushing their encroachments, and manage to make many converts, alike from the pagan and the semi-Christianized natives. Sierra Leone and Lagos, the two chief English settlements, where Islam had been, till within a few years ago, quite unknown, now possess large and flourishing and self-supporting Muslim communities.

And now, what is the character of the religion which is thus extending itself by leaps and bounds over the most backward and unfortunate and ill-treated of ali the continents of the earth, and what is the nature of the change which, speaking with the necessary breadth of view, it produces in the inhabitants? So persistent and so gross are the misconceptions which cling, like serpents' eggs together, about the creed and the founder of Islam, that, not even in the century which has witnessed the birth and growth of the science of comparative religion, and not even among the readers of this review, which has done so much to help that study forward, is it quite safe to assume a knowledge of even the simpler and more salient facts.

And, first, I would remark that the name which we commonly give to the religion is a misnomer. To call a follower of the Prophet a Mohammedan is to offer him the same kind of insult that it is to call a devout Catholic, a Papist. "Is it Mohammed,” cried Abu Bakr, the most faithful of the Prophet's followers, to the fierce Omar, who, in the agony of his grief, swore that he would strike off the head of the first man who dared to say that the Prophet was dead the Prophet could not be dead-"is it Mohammed or the God of Mohammed that he taught you to worship?" The creed is not Mohammedanism, but Islam a verbal noun, derived from a root which means submission to and faith in God; and the believer who so submits himself, calls himself not a Mohammedan, but a Muslim

the other leading doctrines of the Muslim be forfeiting their birthright, if they com

Such is the theology of the Koran; and have been more or less than human if it here is its morality :

in an African tribe which accepts Islam is | raw products which we know from Hea most marked one.

The worst evils which, there is reason to believe, prevailed at one time over the whole of Africa, and which are still to be found in many parts of it, and those, too, not far from the west coast and from our own settlements cannibalism and human sacrifice and the burial of living infants disappear at once and forever. Natives who have hitherto lived in a state of nakedness, or nearly so, begin to dress, and that neatly; natives who have never washed before begin to wash, and that frequently; for ablutions are commanded in the sacred law, and it is an ordinance

rodotus to have existed from the earliest times in Africa, nor the cowrie shells, or gunpowder, or tobacco, or rum, which still serve as a chief medium of exchange all along the coast, but manufactures involving considerable skill, and a commerce which is elaborately organized; and under their influence, and that of the more settled government which Islam brings in its train, there have arisen those great cities of Negroland, whose very existence, when first they were described by European travellers, could not but be half discredited. Such are Sego, the capital of Bambarra, a walled town of thirty thou

which does not involve too severe a strain sand inhabitants, with its square houses on their natural instincts. The tribal or- and Moorish mosques, its richly cultivated ganization tends to give place to some- fields, and its fleets of canoes plying for thing which has a wider basis. In other hire on the majestic river Niger, which words, tribes coalesce into nations, and, stirred into a burst of admiration and surwith the increase of energy and intelli- prise the heart of Mungo Park, the first gence, nations into empires. Many such great traveller in Negroland a century instances could be adduced from the his- ago. Such is Kuka, the capital of Bornu, tory of the Soudan and the adjoining on Lake Tchad, a town first visited and

described by Denham and Clapperton, and subsequently by Barth, and Rohlfs, and Nachtigal, and containing a population of sixty thousand souls, with its huge market well stocked, every day, with cattle and horses, sheep and camels, butter and eggs, wheat and leather, ivory and indigo - everything, in fact, which indicates a life of, at least, semi-civilization and security; such is Kano, the Manchester, as it has been called, of Negroland, with its manufacture of blue cotton cloth, fifteen hundred camel-loads of which are transported annually, on the backs of camels, across the Sahara to the towns of Barbary; and such, once more amongst many others, is Ilorin, in the Yoruba country, recently visited by Rohlfs in his venturesome journey across Africa, with its sixty thousand inhabitants, its wide streets, its little market squares, and its many mosques.

countries during the last hundred years. If the warlike spirit is thus stimulated, the centres from which war springs are fewer in number and further apart. War is better organized, and is under some form of restraint; quarrels are not picked for nothing; there is less indiscriminate plundering and greater security for property and life. Elementary schools, like those described by Mungo Park a century ago, spring up, and, even if they only teach their scholars to recite the Koran, they are worth something in themselves, and may be a step to much more. The well-built and neatly kept mosque, with its call to prayer repeated five times a day, its Mecca-pointing niche, its imam and its weekly service, becomes the centre of the village, instead of the ghastly fetish or Juju house. The worship of one God, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent, compassionate, is an immeasurable advance upon anything which the native has been taught to worship before. The Arabic language, in which the Mussulman prosperity. I only say it is consistent

scriptures are always written, is a language of extraordinary copiousness and beauty; once learned, it becomes a lingua franca to the tribes of half the continent, and serves as an introduction to literature, or rather, it is a literature in itself. It substitutes, moreover, a written code of law for the arbitrary caprice of a chieftain a change which is, in itself, an immense advance in civilization. Manufactures and commerce spring up, not the dumb trading or the elementary bartering of

I am far from saying that the religion is the sole cause of all this comparative

with it, and it encourages it. Climatic conditions and various other influences co-operate towards the result; but what has pagan Africa, even where the conditions are very similar, to compare with it? As regards the individual, it is admitted on all hands that Islam gives to its new negro converts an energy, a dignity, a self-reliance, and a self-respect which is all too rarely found in their pagan or their Christian fellow-countrymen.

These are no slight benefits, but there

gated everywhere by the missionaries of difference between the two. The message

the other leading doctrines of the Muslim be forfeiting their birthright, if they com

Such is the theology of the Koran; and have been more or less than human if it here is its morality:

in an African tribe which accepts Islam is | raw products which we know from Hea most marked one.

rodotus to have existed from the earliest The worst evils which, there is reason times in Africa, nor the cowrie shells, or to believe, prevailed at one time over the gunpowder, or tobacco, or rum, which still whole of Africa, and which are still to serve as a chief medium of exchange all be found in many parts of it, and those, along the coast, but manufactures involv too, not far from the west coast and from ing considerable skill, and a commerce our own settlements - cannibalism and which is elaborately organized; and under human sacrifice and the burial of living their influence, and that of the more setinfants disappear at once and forever. tled government which Islam brings in Natives who have hitherto lived in a state its train, there have arisen those great of nakedness, or nearly so, begin to dress, cities of Negroland, whose very existence, and that neatly; natives who have never when first they were described by Eurowashed before begin to wash, and that pean travellers, could not but be half disfrequently; for ablutions are commanded credited. Such are Sego, the capital of in the sacred law, and it is an ordinance Bambarra, a walled town of thirty thouwhich does not involve too severe a strain sand inhabitants, with its square houses on their natural instincts. The tribal or- and Moorish mosques, its richly cultivated ganization tends to give place to some- fields, and its fleets of canoes plying for thing which has a wider basis. In other hire on the majestic river Niger, which words, tribes coalesce into nations, and, stirred into a burst of admiration and surwith the increase of energy and intelli- prise the heart of Mungo Park, the first gence, nations into empires. Many such great traveller in Negroland a century instances could be adduced from the his- ago. Such is Kuka, the capital of Bornu, tory of the Soudan and the adjoining on Lake Tchad, a town first visited and countries during the last hundred years. described by Denham and Clapperton, If the warlike spirit is thus stimulated, and subsequently by Barth, and Rohlfs, the centres from which war springs are and Nachtigal, and containing a populafewer in number and further apart. War tion of sixty thousand souls, with its huge is better organized, and is under some market well stocked, every day, with cattle form of restraint; quarrels are not picked and horses, sheep and camels, butter and for nothing; there is less indiscriminate eggs, wheat and leather, ivory and indigo plundering and greater security for prop-everything, in fact, which indicates a erty and life. Elementary schools, like life of, at least, semi-civilization and sethose described by Mungo Park a century ago, spring up, and, even if they only teach their scholars to recite the Koran, they are worth something in themselves, and may be a step to much more. The well-built and neatly kept mosque, with its call to prayer repeated five times a day, its Mecca-pointing niche, its imam and its weekly service, becomes the centre of the village, instead of the ghastly fetish or Juju house. The worship of one God, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and compassionate, is an immeasurable advance upon anything which the native has been taught to worship before. The Arabic language, in which the Mussulman scriptures are always written, is a language of extraordinary copiousness and beauty; once learned, it becomes a lingua franca to the tribes of half the continent, and serves as an introduction to literature, or rather, it is a literature in itself. It substitutes, moreover, a written code of law for the arbitrary caprice of a chieftain a change which is, in itself, an immense advance in civilization. Manufactures and commerce spring up, not the dumb trading or the elementary bartering of

curity; such is Kano, the Manchester, as it has been called, of Negroland, with its manufacture of blue cotton cloth, fifteen hundred camel-loads of which are transported annually, on the backs of camels, across the Sahara to the towns of Barbary; and such, once more amongst many others, is Ilorin, in the Yoruba country, recently visited by Rohlfs in his venturesome journey across Africa, with its sixty thousand inhabitants, its wide streets, its little market squares, and its many mosques.

I am far from saying that the religion is the sole cause of all this comparative prosperity. I only say it is consistent with it, and it encourages it. Climatic conditions and various other influences co-operate towards the result; but what has pagan Africa, even where the conditions are very similar, to compare with it?

As regards the individual, it is admitted on all hands that Islam gives to its new negro converts an energy, a dignity, a self-reliance, and a self-respect which is all too rarely found in their pagan or their Christian fellow-countrymen.

These are no slight benefits, but there