AFKICA. 



of Afghanistan is not very copious. Among 

 the best works are: Eaye, "History of the 

 War in Afghanistan," London, 1861 ; Bellew, 

 " Journal of a Political Mission to Afghanistan," 

 London, 1862; the reports of travels by Con- 

 oily, Burnes, Masson, Ferrier, Bellew, Vam- 

 be>y, etc. 



The Afghan language (Pukhtu) belongs to 

 the Iranic group of the Indo-Germanic lan- 

 guages ; it is mixed with Persian, Arabic, Syr- 

 iac, and Chaldean elements, and written in Per- 

 sian characters. It has an eastern and a west- 

 ern dialect. 



Eecent works on Afghan language and litera- 

 ture are scarce; among them are, Eaverty, 

 " Grammar of the Pukhtu," " Dictionary of the 

 Pukhtu," and the reader " Gulshan-i-roh " (Se- 

 lections from the Poetry of the Afghans), to- 

 gether, 3 vols., London, 1860-'61. Miiller, 

 '"'Die Conjugation des Afghan. Verbums" (Vi- 

 enna, 1867). There exists, besides, a trans- 

 lation of the New Testament and the historical 

 books of the Old into the Pukhtu, made by 

 T. Lowenthal, and edited by the Serampore 

 Bible Society in India. 



AFEICA. The year 1869 will remain in 

 the history of Africa of prominent importance. 

 Not only for many years, but for many centu- 

 ries, no event has occurred which could stand 

 any comparison with the opening of the Suez 

 Canal, in November, 1869. It was one of 

 the great sensations of the year, and not of late 

 has an equal solemnity on African soil been 

 witnessed. The attendance, at the festivities, of 

 the Empress of France, the Emperor of Aus- 

 tria, the Crown-prince of Prussia, and the repre- 

 sentatives of the chief newspapers of Europe and 

 America, gave a brilliant and weighty expres- 

 sion to the belief of the whole Christian world 

 that the opening of the Suez Canal signifies an 

 entire revolution in the relation of this part of 

 Africa to the family of the civilized nations. 

 It is now the common expectation that a revo- 

 lution of trade and commerce must commence ; 

 that Egypt must rise from its past lethargy ; 

 that it cannot much longer remain a vassal of 

 Turkey, but must become the seat of a new 

 and great empire, with an extensive commerce, 

 on the one hand, with Turkey, Greece, Italy, 

 France, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, and the 

 remainder of Europe, and, on the other, with 

 Hindostan, Persia, the western and southern 

 coast of Asia, and the eastern coast of Africa. 

 The annual progress of Egypt will henceforth 

 command in the annals of contemporaneous 

 history a much more prominent place, and its 

 natural influence upon its weak neighbors can- 

 not fail to lead, ere long, to considerable changes 

 in the map of Africa. From a religious point 

 of view,^the transformation which Egypt, un- 

 der the influence of European ideas, is sure to 

 undergo, and the effect this may have upon 

 the Mohammedan world at large, will be a 

 problem well worthy to be watched. In Egypt 

 as well as in Turkey, both the government and 

 the people anticipate that a struggle for the in- 



dependence of Egypt is near at hand. Through- 

 out the year 1869 the Government of Egypt 

 was involved in an open diplomatic war with 

 the Sultan, and several times the outbreak of 

 hostilities appeared imminent. At the close 

 of the year the submission of the Khedive of 

 Egypt to the ultimatum of Turkey was an- 

 nounced. (See EGYPT.) 



The celebrated constructor of the Suez Canal, 

 Ferdinand de Lesseps, is meditating another 

 project, equally grand in its conception, and 

 which, if carried out, cannot fail to have, like- 

 wise, a great influence on the future destinies of 

 the African Continent the conversion of the 

 Desert of Sahara into a great inland sea. The 

 plan is seriously studied and prepared, but no 

 steps to its realization have yet been taken. 



Abyssinia has lost again the transient im- 

 portance which the English expedition im- 

 parted to it. Civil war again reigns supreme, 

 and there appears to be no immediate prospect 

 of the establishment of a strong and consoli- 

 dated Abyssinian empire. The effects of the 

 war were, however, still visible during the 

 year in the production of a large number of 

 able works, by English, German, and other 

 scholars, which have greatly improved our 

 knowledge of the people and the country, and 

 facilitated the way for the establishment of a 

 closer intercourse between Abyssinia and the 

 civilized world. (For some interesting details 

 of these literary researches, see ABYSSINIA.) 



An event which cannot fail to have a con- 

 siderable influence upon the progress of civili- 

 zation in Africa is, the conversion to Christi- 

 anity of the Queen of Madagascar. For about 

 half a century the rulers of this important 

 island have been vacillating between Christi- 

 anity and paganism, between civilization and 

 barbaric isolation. Now the victory of Chris- 

 tianity and civilization seems to have been for- 

 ever decided. Paganism had long been under- 

 mined, and was only upheld by the influence 

 of the court. Now there is a rush of the civil 

 officers of all classes, and of the leading men of 

 the island, to solicit admission into the Chris- 

 tian Church, and the utter collapse of pagan- 

 ism is drawing near with remarkable celerity. 

 Madagascar, with its five million inhabitants, 

 will be the largest among the independent 

 Christian states, the others being Abyssinia, 

 Liberia, the Orange Free State, and the Trans- 

 vaal Eepublic. (See MADAGASCAE.) 



In September the town of Bonny, on the coast 

 of Western Africa, was almost wholly destroyed 

 in a fight, lasting thirty-six hours, between 

 two rival chiefs, Oko Jumbo and Ja Ja. These 

 native conflicts are becoming much more sangui- 

 nary than formerly, because the parties are 

 supplying themselves largely from the Euro- 

 peans with guns, rifles, and munitions of war. 

 Under the treaty between Great Britain and 

 the king and chiefs of Bonny, they undertake 

 not to go to war so long as they are indebted 

 to the merchants trading for goods, under the 

 penalty of a fine of two hundred puncheons of 



