10 



AFEICA. 



to be held under British title, was submitted 

 by the president to the Volksraad of the Free 

 State, and rejected by them. The Vollcsraad 

 decided to send a deputation to the British 

 Government to represent their case ; and they 

 requested Governor Wodehouse to stay all pro- 

 ceedings till the result should be known. The 

 governor said he would consent if the presi- 

 dent would give guarantees for the preserva- 

 tion of peace in the mean time. The president's 

 reply did not lead to a perfect understanding, 

 but subsequently the Free State relinquished 

 the hostile position it had assumed in reference 

 to the British protection of Basutoland, and a 

 deputation waited upon Governor Wodehouse 

 to inquire if there was any possibility of the 

 Free State joining the Federal Union with the 

 South- African colonies, and annexing it to the 

 British crown, to which the governor returned 

 a very guarded reply. 



The President of the Transvaal Eepublic, 

 Praatorius, has annexed, by proclamation, a 

 territory about three times the size of the 

 present republic. It has become known that, 

 in the northern districts of this republic, de- 

 based Europeans, taking advantage of the dis- 

 tance of the district from the centres of popu- 

 lation and power, have revived the slave- 

 trade in its worst form. A strong movement 

 for putting down this new slave-trade has 

 begun in the towns. The discovery of rich 

 gold-fields in the republic and in the neighbor- 

 ing districts has, of late, called special atten- 

 tion to this republic (see TEANSVAAL EEPTJBLIO). 



The expedition which the Portuguese, in 

 Mozambique, undertook into the exterior, had 

 a fatal issue, the larger portion of the expedi- 

 tion being massacred by the natives. 



The following table exhibits the area and 

 population of the principal divisions of Africa.* 



AGEICULTUEE. 



Among the most important of the native 

 states belong, besides Morocco, Tunis, Tripoli, 

 and Egypt, the area and population of which 

 have been given in the above list, the follow- 

 ing: Liberia, 9,567 square miles, 717,500 in- 

 habitants; Abyssinia, 158,392 square miles, 

 3,000,000 inhabitants; the Orange Free State, 

 48,049 square miles, 50,000 inhabitants; the 

 Transvaal Eepublic, 77,964 square miles, 120,- 

 000 inhabitants ; Madagascar, 232,315 square 

 miles, 5,000,000 inhabitants. 



Christianity is steadily advancing in Africa. 

 It is the ruling religion in the large posses- 

 sions and dependencies of England, France, 

 Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, in Abyssinia, 

 Liberia, the Orange Free State, and the Trans- 

 vaal Eepublic. To these states Madagascar 

 will soon be added, as the new Queen favors 

 Christianity, and the Christianization of the 

 country makes rapid progress. The popula- 

 tion which is in connection with or under the 

 influence of the Protestant Church is estima- 

 ted as follows: British possessions, 500,000; 

 Algeria, 10,000; Egypt, 10,000; Liberia, 40,- 

 000 ; Madagascar, 50,000 ; Orange Free State, 

 15,000; Transvaal Eepublic, 30,000; Kaffra- 

 ria, and Basuto Territory, 30,000 ; total 685,- 

 000. The Eoman Catholic population is esti- 

 mated at 1,106,200 : embracing 140,000 in the 

 British possessions; 133,000 in the French; 

 439,000 in the Portuguese; 12,000 in the 

 Spanish; 100,000 in Angola, Benguela, and 

 Mozambique; 190,000 in Algeria; 50,000 in 

 Egypt ; 30,000 in Abyssinia; 200 in Morocco ; 

 10,000 in Tunis and Tripoli; and 2,000 in 

 Madagascar. About 3,000,000 in Abyssinia, 

 and 200,000 in Egypt, are connected with 

 Eastern Churches ; making the total Christian 

 population of Africa about 5,000,000. 



AGEICULTUEE. In the article AGEICTJL- 

 TUKE, in the ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for the year 



1867, it was found impossible to obtain accu- 

 rate statistics of the crops of that year, owing 

 to an unusual delay in making the returns to 

 the Agricultural Department of the Govern- 

 ment. They were not, in fact, collated and 

 published in full till about the first of June, 



1868. The estimates given were, however, a 

 very close approximation to the actual figures, 

 as a comparison of the following tables with 

 the estimates of that volume will demonstrate. 

 For further comparison, and as indicating the 

 advance in the quantity of agricultural prod- 

 ucts, we give the aggregates of 1850 and of 

 1860 also: 



* The above figures are taken from Behm's Gfeographi- 

 sches Jahrbuch, vol. i. (Gotha, 1868), which is generally ac- 

 knowledged as a standard authority on geographical sub- 

 jects. 



t As several inland lakes are not included in the above 

 list of countries, this total is somewhat larger than the 

 aggregate of the above figures. 



