THE ECONOMIC CONQUESI' oi' AI'MtICA l!V TilK liAl LIJOADS. 727 



task of keeping in i-miniiiii- oi'dci' scnch (liUcicnt tyjx's of locc^inotives, 

 ganuMvd by the luililary aiithorilics in llu-ir liaslo (o open the road. 



The ^veekIy sclu'dulc at jjrcscnt inchidcs (wo express ti'ains, ad- 

 mirably e<iui[)[)ed with parlor, bullet, and sleeping ears. Besides 

 these a mixed freight and passenger ti'ain starts daily from each end 

 of the line. The shipments to the south consist of military stoiH's 

 and construction materials, while the noi'thern freights are made uj) 

 of rubber, ivory, ostrich plumes, and grain. As the list indicates, 

 the tonnage is still of very modest dimensions, yet it is sufficient to 

 pay a good share of the expenses of oj^eration. 



CJi'-U'Ar.s <.l^ fh'' €7lj- 



ejcploiUUuiiv a_ 



Chcm.dof.eaconst"^ 

 := I OH, projctes » 



FiCi. 4.— South African system. 



The extension to I^ake Albert of the northern section of the i)ro- 

 posed transcontinental road between Cairo and the Cape is postponed 

 for the present. Instead the English have decided to undertake the 

 construction of a road from the Nile to the Red Sea. The attempt 

 to join Berber and Suakin was abandoned in 1881, after an inmiense 

 amount of money had been spent on some 20 miles of road ; but the 

 project has been revived, and to-day work is being done on both ends 

 of a road between Suakin and Khartoum by way of Kassala. From 

 Kassala it is planned to run a great southern line through Abyssinia 

 to Lake Rudolph, and thus connect the Egyptian system with that 

 of eastern Africa. 



