it would possess over their present manuscripts, both in point of
elegance and cheapness, might at last obtain it a place among the school
books of Africa.

The reflections which I have thus ventured to submit to my readers on
this important subject, naturally suggested themselves to my mind on
perceiving the encouragement which was thus given to learning (such as it
is) in many parts of Africa. I have observed, that the pupils at Kamalia
were most of them the children of Pagans; their parents, therefore, could
have had no predilection for the doctrines of Mahomet. Their aim was
their children's improvement, and if a more enlightened system had
presented itself, it would probably have been preferred. The children,
too, wanted not a spirit of emulation, which it is the aim of the tutor
to encourage. When any one of them has read through the Koran, and
performed a certain number of public prayers, a feast is prepared by the
schoolmaster, and the scholar undergoes an examination, or (in European
terms) _takes out his degree_. I attended at three different
inaugurations of this sort, and heard with pleasure the distinct and
intelligent answers which the scholars frequently gave to the Bushreens,
who assembled on those occasions, and acted as examiners. When the
Bushreens had satisfied themselves respecting the learning and abilities
of the scholar, the last page of the Koran was put into his hand, and he
was desired to read it aloud; after the boy had finished this lesson, he
pressed the paper against his forehead, and pronounced the word _Amen_;
upon which all the Bushreens rose, and shaking him cordially by the hand,
bestowed upon him the title of Bushreen.

When a scholar has undergone this examination, his parents are informed
that he has completed his education and that it is incumbent on them to
redeem their son, by giving to the schoolmaster a slave, or the price of