THE 



ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA. 



A 



AFRICA. The most important of the coun- 

 tries of this continent which have native 

 governments, are Egypt, Abyssinia, Liberia, 

 Morocco, Tunis, Tripoli, and Madagascar. 

 Egypt, under the enlightened rule of Said 

 Pasha, who died on Jan. 18th, 1863, and his suc- 

 cessor, the actual Pasha Ismail, has been, and 

 is still, making great progress in civilization. 

 Its population is rapidly increasing, and had, 

 in 1859, risen to 5,125,000. The canal of Suez, 

 which is rapidly approaching completion (see 

 SUEZ, CANAL or), will give to Egypt a large 

 interest in the commerce of the world, and 

 greatly elevate its position among civilized 

 nations. Its principal city, Cairo, with 254,000 

 inhabitants, and Alexandria, with 150,000 in- 

 habitants, will soon claim a place among the 

 great and important emporiums of the world. 



The Emperor of Abyssinia has been for some 

 years engaged in war against the neighboring 

 tribes, for the purpose of enlarging the boun- 

 daries of his empire. The details of these 

 wars, which continued during the year 1863, 

 are of little interest, although the public was 

 shocked toward the close of the year by a re- 

 port of unparalleled barbarities committed by 

 him. On the other hand, the emperor is 

 highly praised as friendly to civilization by 

 some lay missionaries of the Missionary Socie- 

 ty of Basle, Switzerland, who have been per- 

 mitted to settle in Abyssinia and establish 

 schools. The Republic of Liberia continues to 

 advance in prosperity. On February 17th the 

 ratifications of a treaty of commerce and nav- 

 igation, concluded at London between Liberia 

 and the United States of America, were ex- 

 changed. In the island of Madagascar a revo- 

 lutionbroke out on May 12th, at the capital of 

 Tanarivo. King Radama II. and his ministers 

 were assassinated. The widow of the king 

 was proclaimed queen under the name of Ra- 

 VOL. in. 1 A 



soaheri-Manjoka, and signed a constitution, 

 drawn up by the anti-foreign party of the Ho- 

 vas. The treaties concluded by King Radama 

 with the European Powers were suspended, 

 but assurance was given that religious liberty 

 would be respected, and that the labors of 

 the missionaries would not be interfered with. 



Among the English possessions in Africa, the 

 islands of Mauritius and Seychelles are rapidly 

 increasing in population. The total population, 

 of Mauritius, according to the census of April, 

 1861, was 313,462, no less than 129,956 more 

 than in 1851. The Indian-born population 

 numbered 172,425, and the children of Indian 

 parents were 20,029, so that the Indian element 

 now numbers 192,604, or more than three fifths 

 of the whole. In 1862 there were 9,893 addi- 

 tional immigrants landed in Mauritius, and 190 

 liberated Africans on the Seychelles. No one 

 of the European Powers is making so great 

 progress on the African continent as France. 

 This is especially the case on the western coast. 

 In Senegal and its dependencies she has already 

 annexed a territory of 25,357,525 hectares with 

 252,000 inhabitants, while fully 1,000,000 of 

 natives are exclusively trading with her. On 

 Feb. 27th, 1863, the commander of the French 

 fleet stationed upon the western coast accepted, 

 in the name of his government, the protectorate 

 of Porto Novo, the coast west of Lagos. In 

 Algeria France now rules over an area of 39,- 

 000,000 hectares, and a population of 2,999,124. 

 Of these 2,806,378 are natives, and 192,746 

 Europeans. 



The number of Roman Catholics in Africa 

 may be estimated at about 1,100,000, of whom 

 about 10,000 live in the Cape Colony, 2,500 in 

 Natal, 120,000 in Mauritius, 6,000 in the Sey- 

 chelles, 10,000 in Senegambia, 120,000 in Re- 

 union, 439,000 in the Portuguese and 12,000 

 in the Spanish possessions, 185,000 hi Algeria, 



