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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



courses would be adopted by the Uni- 

 versity of the Olive Tree 



The university headquarters are in the 

 interior of the Grand Mosque of the 

 Olive Tree, so that no foreigner can ever 

 catch a glimpse of it, owing to the 

 mosque belonging to the Malachite rite, 

 where only persons going to pray are al- 

 lowed to enter (see page 51). Even the 

 Sheik ul Islam (a Moslem ecclesiastic oc- 

 cupying in northern Africa a position 

 corresponding to that of the Pope in the 

 Roman Catholic Church) could not grant 

 me permission to enter, although he was 

 most desirous of my seeing the mosque, 

 university, and its various branches. It 

 was suggested by some of my Arab 

 friends that I slip in dressed as an Arab, 

 but this seemed to me a very improper 

 proceeding and I refused to do so. 



A Mohammedan society has been 

 formed for the betterment of all classes. 

 This society is known as the Khaldounia. 

 Wealthy Arab gentlemen volunteer their 

 services as instructors, each one teaching 

 his particular subject. The Khaldounia 

 has met with tremendous popularity. 

 They have comfortable reading-rooms, 

 an auditorium, and a small but excellent 

 library. The members meet frequently 

 and discuss all sorts of questions. 



MODERN EDUCATION IN TUNIS 



During the past ten years a school for 

 Arab girls has been founded and has 

 met with great success. The head of it 

 is a French woman, who thoroughly 

 understands Mohammedan ways. 



No effort is made to proselytize or in- 

 fluence them in any way, the desire is 

 simply to make these young girls intelli- 

 gent and useful members of the com- 

 munity, so that when they marry they 

 may have attractive homes and be intelli- 

 gent companions to their husbands. 

 They are taught plain, common-sense 

 sewing, hygiene, common-sense cooking, 

 how to set a table properly, to read and 

 write ; also arithmetic and bookkeeping. 



The school is very largely attended by 

 the daughters of the aristocrats and 

 wealthy families. The Arabs are taking 

 much interest in the school, and its head- 

 quarters have had to be changed several 

 times since it was started, so all its schol- 

 ars could be housed. 



The French have made public instruc- 

 tion compulsory throughout Tunisia, and 

 even in the far-away Troglodyte villages 

 small schools are to be found, which as a 

 rule are attended only by the boys, but 

 some of the broad-minded and intelligent 

 Arabs are sending their daughters. These 

 public schools have both Arab and French 

 instructors, who teach history, geogra- 

 phy, reading, writing, and arithmetic. 



The Arab teacher instructs the natives 

 in the Koran and in reading and writing 

 Arabic. The Koran is not only a re- 

 ligious book, but it contains excellent ad- 

 vice on daily life that is quite practical. 

 When an Arab boy has learned to read 

 the Koran, he is an excellent Arab 

 scholar. 



The result of these public schools is 

 that the younger generation can speak, 

 read, and write excellent French, whereas 

 most of the older men do not understand 

 a word. 



The French government has allowed 

 the natives absolute independence of 

 thought and religion. In the far-off 

 Troglodyte towns, where no mosques ex- 

 isted, some have been built by the gov- 

 ernment. This has been a very wise 

 move, because it has endeared the French 

 to the hearts of the Tunisians. 



Justice is administered to the natives 

 according to the ancient laws of the 

 country. A foreigner, be he French, 

 Italian, or English, is judged by a French 

 court, just as if he were in France. 



The Oriental mind cannot quite grasp 

 the French (Roman) laws, and this na- 

 tive and French dual tribunal is most 

 effective in dealing with justice. The 

 law is swift, just, and severe. Evil-doers 

 are always caught and punished, so that 

 from the lowest to the highest there is 

 strict law and order. 



Tunisia has a French and Arab police 

 and mounted police, called oudjac, that 

 patrol the country (see page 5). 



Ill 



CONCERNING THE CAMEE AND THE 

 EOCUST 



There are almost as many varieties of 

 camels as horses. The Arab name for 

 camel is djemel. Those of Tunisia, 

 Tripolitania, and Algeria have one hump 



