RELIGIONS. Fifty-eight per cent. of the popu lation. :Iceording to the estimate of 11. P. Beach, are devotees of the native religions. which arc charaeterized by these features: (1) Belief in some sort of a supreme God, who, in a vaguely conceived way, creates and rules all. (2) Wor ship of ancestors. It is not so elaborately worked out as in China, but still it underlies the West African scenes of dreadful slaughter of the slaves and wives of his predecessor. ordered when a chief succeeds to office, for by such blood shed he pays respect to the deceased. (3) Fetishism, with the accompaniment of a priest or sorcerer. (4) Superstition of the grossest and most. degrading kind. The heathen African is the slave of this hi• type of religion. and. in ennti• cpiet•e, his life is full of terrors, as it is to the interest of the fetish doctors to work upon these fears. Idolatry is not found in central Atrica at all, and nowhere is it so elaborated as in India. importcd. fecliyions.—(1) 'Mohamme danism. Of the religions imported into the con tinent, by far the most important is Mohamme danism, the faith of 36 per cent. of the popula tion. It came thither in the seventh century and overran all north Africa in it hundred years. so completely overturning the Christian churches which had been planted there that they have never been revived. Mohammedan ism retains its eonquests in Egypt, Barea, Tripoli, Algeria. and Morocco, and it is to-day one of the greatest missionary religions. It presents a 011e-sentence creed: "There is but one God and 'Mohammed is his prophet," and has the simplest methods. The missionary is un paid and usually a native. There are no mis sion hoards, or expenses for salaries and print ing. There is usually no special training, al though in Cairo there is a :Mohammedan univer sity, attended by thousands of students, and from many of the missionaries go forth. They have been remarkably successful in spreading their faith among heathen populations in Cen tral Africa. In this way Alohammedanism has exerted an influence •hich counteracts the na tive religious. and so improves the condition of the peoples it reaches. (2) Christianity: (a) Copts, the descendants of those original Chris tians who, in the fifth century. adopted the theory that in Jesus the human and divine make one composite nature (monophysitism), and so :i•e reckoned among Christian heretics. They
are found in Egypt and number about three quarters of a million. Co Abyssinian Chris tians, who trace their faith back to the Coptic missionaries of the fourth century, hut present a curious mixture of Christianity and Juda ism. (c) Boman Catholics: The first mission aries of this faith to penetrate the Dark Conti !Wilt were Jesuits, and they began work in the middle of the sixteenth century. Indeed, St.Fran cis Xavier came to Mozambique as early as 1541, but he did not stay more than six months. The result of the work, carried on continuously ever since. has been that 110W one and two-fifths per cent. of the population arc Roman Catholics, liv ing in all parts of the continent. Livingstone bore testimony to the value of the work of these mis sionaries. (d) Protestants: The first who came to Africa were Moravians. This was in 1792. Since then all branches of Protestantism have labored there, and their converts now number one and nine-tenths per cent. of the population, and they are found in every part. Roman Catho lics and Protestants, especially the latter. carry on missionary work among the Coptic and Aliys sinian Christians. South Africa is to a consid erable extent a Christian country of the modern civilized type. (3) Judaism: About three-tenths of one per cent. of the population of Africa are .Tee's.
Socem, CoxturfoNs. Slavery is still "the open sore of Africa." as Livingstone said. and nowhere is it more eruct, bloodthirsty, and destructive. The ivory trade is a constant souree of trouble. setting tribe against tribe in war. Polygamy is widespread. The tribal government, the absence of central authority, the usual conditions of savage life. in bondage of superstition 0101 ter rors of every kind, these disturb life, over great stretches of territory. Yet it is the testimony of travelers that peace and a certain kind of pros perity are found in many villages in the very heart of the land. Consult: F. P. Noble. Tice Redemption of Africa (New York, 1899, 2 vol nines) ; A. P. Atterhury, Islam in Africa (New York, 1 S99 ) ; H. P. Beach, Geography of Protes tant Missions (New York, 1901).