48 No. 99 PRESENT CONDITIONS [ 2 German frontiers, he found the chiefs and notables intelligent and well conducted , able to read and write in the Arabic character, and well versed in the Koran, of which and of other Mohammedan devotional books there were copies in every village . In all the larger villages Mohammedan schools were established, at which attendance by all the children was enforced by the chief. The men all wore the traditional Moham medan dress and were most devout and rigorous in the observance of their religion , while the women were suitably clothed and were treated with a degree of respect and consideration far ahead of that pre vailing among Africans generally . " On the other hand, Consul Mackie, who travelled in the same district in 1911 , wrote in his report ? as follows : The Tambatamba (Arabisés )—Bokusu, Batetela, and other followers of Arab families --are congregated at Stanley Falls on both banks as far down as La Romée . These two latter tribes live in large mud -wall houses , detached, with yards or courts . They are both farmers and stock -breeders. The former are clean , clothed , and polite, while the latter are like the Arabs, superior in appearance , dress , and manners -- in fact, the aristocracy of the land . Their fields are tilled by women and dependents and slaves . They are not true Arabs, though there are a few of these too among them . In all things except religion the Tambatambas follow their Arab conquerors of earlier days , but of religion they have only the superstitions without the bonds, rules , or system of worship of the Mahom medans.

There is probably no fundamental discrepancy between these reports. Lord Mountmorres was doubtless in the main impressed by the attitude of the chiefs who have the Arab tradition, while Mr. Mackie deals with the attitude of the people and with tribes at some distance from Manyema, which was the head-quarters of Arab power.

1 Johnston , i . 321 , n . 1 . 2 Cd . 5860 , pp . 62 , 63 . >