PREFACE which enable us to piece together a fairly connected narrative. It is clear that the Northern Sudan was subject to the Khalifas and their representatives in Egypt, and that its rulers were compelled by them to pay the " Bakt," or annual tribute of slaves. It is equally clear, however, that the native Christian Church made a persistent and gallant stand against Islam, and that Christianity flourished in the country from the First Cataract to Soba on the Blue Nile. The testimony of Muhammadan writers proves that there were hundreds of churches in the country between these limits, and we know from other sources that many of them were fine buildings, the walls of which were decorated with painted figures of saints, &c. The form of belief which the Sudan Christians professed was that of Alexandria, i.e., Jacobite, and the Liturgy was recited in Greek, and we may assume that the chief members of the clergy came from the Mother Church in Alexandria. In the thirteenth century, however, troubles came on the native church, and, in proportion as the power and influence of Islam grew and spread, Christianity declined. Little by little mosques appeared in the towns and villages, and as the Patriarchs of Alexandria were unable to assist the Sudan Church in stemming the flood of Muhammadanism which was sweeping over the land, the clergy lost their hold upon the people, many of whom, both voluntarily and under compulsion, rejected Christianity and became followers of the Prophet. The southern portion of the Christian kingdom of the Siidan, that of 'Aiwa, came to an end towards the close of the fifteenth century, and by the time Selim conquered Egypt in 1517, the altars of Christ had been profaned or overthrown, and the churches were forsaken buildings. When the Arabs entered the Western Sudan from Tunis, and the Eastern Sudan from Masawa, and the Northern Siidan via Egypt, Islam finally prevailed over Christianity, and, from about the year 1520 to the present time, the population of the whole Siidan has consisted practically of Muhammadans and Pagans.

With the facts at present available it is impossible to write a connected history of the country between 1520 and 1820, but we know that during this period Sultans ruled in Dar Fur, " Meks," or "Chiefs," in Shendi, Albanians in Nubia, and lines of hereditary tribal Shekhs in other parts of the SM4n. These waged X