PREFACE The objects of this little compilation are two. Primarily it is intended to assist those students who, already well acquainted with the elements of the Swahili language, are desirous of entering for the Government Higher Standard ?5 examination. Study I has been compiled at the request of a number of individuals, and because, as I believe, no such treatise on writing ki-Swahili in the Arabic character exists in English. There is a tendency nowadays to discourage this form of writing, but there can be no doubt that, putting aside the question of its suitability, a knowledge thereof is still essential for coastal administration. The student will find that, after having become proficient in reading good clear writing, there will remain the unpleasant fact that he will still be able to decipher only about one in every six of the letters that he receives in the course of his duties. It is to assist him in this difficulty that the letters in this section have been chosen. A model was first selected and subsequently specimens of letters, which in a small space would contain the greatest variety of methods of writing, were carefully chosen. To decide upon the model was by no means so easy as it may sound, for of the large number of authorities ques- tioned, both Arab and Swahili, I never succeeded in find in., two whose views entirely coincided. The selection, it is hoped, will prepare the student for any variety and, with the exception of letter No. 1 which is the model, must not be taken as teaching him how to write but as giving him a practical knowledge of how to read. In Study II I have endeavoured to draw attention to v