There are special courts, Mehkema Sharia, for the trial in accordance with Mohammedan Law, of cases between Mohammedans, involving questions of personal status, such as succession, wills, gifts, marriage, divorce, family relations, and also the constitution of charitable endowments (wakf). The judges of these courts are Mohammedan Sheikhs, either natives of the Sudan or Egyptians; of whom the latter have obtained their training in the Azhar Mosque at Cairo. The Mehkema Sharia comprise District Courts, which have jurisdiction over one or more Districts, according to the extent and population of the Districts, Province Courts, which act as courts of appeal from the District Courts and have also an original jurisdiction over the district in which they are situated, and a Supreme Court of Appeal situated at Khartoum, consisting of the Grand Kadi of the Sudan, who acts as President, the Mufti, and two judges of appeal. Though the majority of the inhabitants of the Sudan are followers of the Maliki School of Mohammedan Law, the courts generally, as in Egypt, adopt the jurisprudence of the Hanafi School. LEGISLATION. Legislation takes the form of Ordinances, issued by proclamation of the Governor-General. In accordance with Article IV of the Agreement of the 19th January, 1899, between the British and Egyptian Government as to the administration of the Sudan, all such ordinances must be forthwith notified to the British Agent-General in Cairo and the President of the Council of Ministers of His Highness the Khedive. All Ordinances are published in the “Sudan Gazette.” RELIGION. Except for the negroid tribes the religion of the native population is that of Islam. The black tribes in their own country are all heathen; outside it a good many of their members have embraced Islam. The Arab population is inclined to be fanatical; and to enable the Government to keep itself informed of the religious feelings of the people, a consultory board of Ulema (learned men) has been established at Omdurman. There are two Christian missionary stations amongst the black tribes: one (American Protestant) on the Sobat River, and the other (Austrian Roman Catholic) near Kodok. The latter mission is now establishing another branch in the Bahr El Ghazal. There are also several missionary schools at Khartoum and Omdurman. A British Protestant Church is about to be built at Khartoum, and there are Roman Catholic, Greek, and Coptic churches in course of construction. EDUCATION.