say, from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London, from Trinity College, Dublin, inter alia, and from the University of Edinburgh. While recommendations from individuals personally knowing the candidates are welcomed, no attention is paid to introductions emanating from persons, however highly placed socially or politically, who cannot claim to know the candidate personally. This provision, among several others equally important for maintaining the purity and efficiency of the administration of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, has been and is rigorously enforced. The selection of officials in all Government Departments, military and civil, is based solely upon the general capability of the candidate, as well as upon his intellectual and physical attainments; his character and moral qualifications likewise bear an important part in the decision arrived at. On the other hand, information is neither sought nor admitted regarding religious views or political tendencies, the Government disclaiming any concern in such questions.

Naturally, among the large number of applicants for appointments who are continually being interviewed, many must fail; a careful and conscientious consideration of all requests for admission results in the elimination of many applicants who are deemed to be ineligible. This is the work of a Special Committee; and, when its decisions have been arrived at, there still remain at least four times as many candidates as there are billets to fill. Even when an applicant may be considered in all other respects fit and suitable, a Medical Board, which sits in London, may find him ineligible; he cannot, indeed, be completely assured of his success until he has further passed a stiff examination in Arabic.

The candidate next passes before a 'final' Selection Board, which meets annually in London in the month of August. When he has been definitely accepted, the candidate is offered a choice of appointment in Egypt or the Sudan, and according to his preference he is placed upon the Egyptian or the Sudan list. It occurs but rarely that the former is selected; but once the decision either way is recorded it cannot be altered; should the candidate hesitate in expressing his choice, the Government concludes that he is willing to serve under either administration. Transfers of junior officials

from one Government to the other have, however, been occasionally permitted.

The successful applicant must now spend a further probationary year either at Oxford or Cambridge at his own expense, in order to study Arabic; and during this time he must also attend courses of instruction in first aid, elementary surveying, account-keeping, and such other subjects as the Selection Board may-in accord with the University authorities-consider necessary. Furthermore, the future official must know how to ride; if he does not, he is recommended to learn at once. The probationary year at an end, the candidate has to undergo the ordeal of an examination in Arabic; and the results of this test determine his seniority. Still another medical examination must be passed, and then the Selection Board once more sits in judgment, deciding finally whether the applicant shall be accepted or rejected. So high is the esprit de corps among the younger ranks of the officials, that it is not deemed by them sufficient to 'scrape through' their first examination; the majority endeavour to pass with honours; and even the handsome cash bonus of 1007., which is presented to the successful competitor in the Advanced Arabic Examination, is of less moment than the distinction which his achievement brings to his Department, and which, incidentally, bears upon his own future promotion. The gaining of this high distinction is rare, there having been but four successful competitors up till now, among whom is the present governor of the Blue Nile Province, Mr G. E. Iles. Several young officers personally known to me have cheerfully devoted their entire furlough at home to improving their knowledge of Arabic either at language schools or by attending college lectures and studying law. With this lofty sentiment predominant among the juniors, it is not difficult to understand or to appreciate the pride with which the heads of the Sudan Government Departments point to the class of official now serving the country.

No first appointment is made for a longer period than two years, which are considered as probationary. If, during this time, the 'candidate'-he is still so regarded in the official eye-is found unsuitable, owing to ill-health or to any other cause, his services may be dispensed with

on two months' notice; and in this case he is given a free passage to England, should he wish to go home, and a gratuity of fifteen days' pay. The number of such eliminations, however, is very small, for the preliminary investigations are usually so exhaustive that few unsuitables manage to slip through.

From a remunerative point of view, as regards both salary and pension, an appointment under the Sudan Government may be regarded as distinctly attractive. Upon passing the first examination, the salary paid is E4201. per annum; and thereafter an an appreciably advancing scale of pay as well as promotion are enjoyed. The young official enters upon his service as a Deputy Inspector, which means that he acts as a magistrate to deal with civil and criminal cases; and he may rise from the Deputy to Junior and from Junior to Senior Inspector in a relatively short period, depending upon his ability, assiduity and opportunities, with an increasing salary according to his class. Thus a Deputy Inspector who starts at E4201. may soon be earning E4801. and E540l.; a Junior Inspector from E600l. may soon be receiving E6601. or E7201.; while a Senior Inspector, who begins with E7801., can rise to E8401. and E9007., according to the class-first, second, or third-to which he attains.

All officials are eligible for increase of pay in the same class every two years; and a Deputy Inspector, after serving for four years, stands every chance of being promoted to a Junior Inspectorship, and after a further two years to a Senior Inspectorship. In order to qualify him for an increase of pay or promotion, a Deputy Inspector must, within two years of the date of his appointment, pass an examination in law and a further examination in Arabic. Mere length of service establishes no claim either to an increase of pay or to promotion; everything depends upon the individual officer's abilities, his zeal and the manner in which he carries out his duties, coupled, of course, with the actual vacancies occurring. No better test could well be applied, nor any more convincing proof afforded of the selection of the fittest, throughout the Sudan Government service.

*One pound Egyptian is equivalent to £1 0s. 6d. English.

When an official has passed some of the best years of his life to work in the Sudan, either as a soldier or a civilian, he may retire with a certainty that his old age will be comfortable, so far as a liberal pension can help towards making it so. Pensions granted to Sudan officials upon retirement, voluntary or compulsory, are regulated by Ordinance. In order to render such pension as full as possible, a deduction of 5 per cent. is made from the pay of all pensionable officials as a contribution towards his pension. It is permissible to retire voluntarily, but there are few instances of this occurring. Those, however, who choose to leave the service may retire upon a pension after reaching the age of forty-five, provided they have done twenty years' service. Their pensions are then calculated on the average of the salaries drawn during the last three years of service, at the rate of th part of the salary for each year of service. No pension, however, can exceed 800l. per annum.

The Sudan Government, wherever possible, and in conformity with the requirements of the country, permits and, indeed, encourages officials to go on leave. By the regulations in force officers are granted leave (after the first year) at the rate of 90 days per annum, counting from the date of their departure from and return to Cairo. There exists a special provision for longer periods when ill-health is the cause. Moreover, owing to the very severe climatic conditions prevailing in the remoter parts of the Sudan, the Governor-General obtained a concession from the War Office to count service below Lat. 12° and in various unhealthy districts as double service-a provision which also exists in certain parts of West Africa and Nigeria.

Upon one point the Government is compelled to remain firm, that is, the engagement of single in preference to married men; the reason being the extreme unsuitability of the country as a whole as a place of residence for white women. If Khartoum, Atbara, Port Sudan, El Obeid, and possibly Wadi Medani be excepted, there are no places in the Sudan as yet where English ladies can live in comfort. Thus all candidates for appointments are made clearly to understand that they must neither be married nor yet engaged to be married, and they are warned that the Government will probably

the

dispense with the services of any official who becomes a 'benedict' during his period of probation. There exists a considerable proportion of married men among superior officials; but in few cases-and these are confined to the towns above mentioned-are their wives to be found living in the Sudan.

The position of the unpensioned official in the Sudan is decidedly less enviable. The apparently high salaries which are offered lose much of their allurement when the cost of living in Khartoum and the Provinces has to be met; to save is extremely difficult, while the few economies which are effected by maintaining a modest expenditure upon existence and exercising an extreme moderation in regard to amusements, are swallowed up by the indispensable 'leave' and the expenses of homejourneys. Probably the same class of men would have done better for themselves in any of the British Colonies or in India. Moreover, the social advantages which are offered to civilians holding subordinate positions in the Government Offices are not great. The line of demarcation between the superior and the subordinate ranks is rigidly drawn. Nevertheless, large as is the class of such workers, but few complaints are heard.

Naturally the ambition of all officials is to become Governors of Provinces; and many of them, who commenced as Deputy Inspectors, have already done so. These enviable posts are not confined to military men, as was the case when the Sudan was first undergoing settlement, and when the sword necessarily played an important part in the administration of the country. To-day there exists a marked tendency in the policy of the Government to utilise the services of civilian governors where this may be done with safety. Thus civilian inspectors, when of sufficient seniority, are being more generally appointed to Governorships of Provinces at salaries ranging from E900l. to E1200l. per annum. Hitherto most of the Governorships and some of the appointments of Senior Inspector and Inspector have been filled by British officers selected from the Egyptian Army; and a proportion of these appointments will continue to be filled from the same source.

The position of a Provincial Governor is a very responsible one, for, subject only to the Governor-General