CENTRAL AFRICA.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144085, 2 May 1913, Page 3

CENTRAL AFRICA.

SEARCH FOR EXPERIENCE. The board of management which controls tho Soudan United Mission has (says the Melbourne Herald) directedthat Mr. D. M. Mac Diarmid, the organising secretary,' whose headquarters are in Melbourne, should visit Africa, in order to gain first hand information as to the best field to bo allotted to Australia and New Zealand. Mr. Mac Diarmid will, therefore, set out next month (May) on his jomrney to Central Africa. : He will meet Dr. R. Trudinger and Mr. J. L. Maxwell, the superintendent of tho mission; and with them visit the. new districts, of Northern Nigeria. Gongola, or Bormi. This means travelling up the Niger for a week, and then a three.weeks’ boat trip no the Benue River to .the. Lake Chad district. In the districts mentioned there are no missions at all. The country, is' untouched by the whit© man, so that Mr. Mac Diarmid will have an exceptional opportunity of gaining experience among tho Soudan natives. "He has done some mission work in China and elsewhere,_ and has travelled a great deal. He is, therefore, looking forward with pleasure to liis trip, which will occupy about nine months. . , ■ „ Mr. Mac Diarmid is a son of Mr. N. K. Mac Diarmid, New Plymouth, and is well known here. He was educated at the local High School, afterwards studying at Otago University. Mr. Mac Diarmid leaves Melbourne on May 28. ■