AFRICA. 



AFZELIUS, ARVID A. 



Tanis, the most important towns, etc., remark- 

 ing that this list was drawn up from an official 

 list furnished him by the Tunis ministry, 

 which was, however, found to be very defi- 

 cient, and was in many instances supplement- 

 ed from other sources. The following are the 

 most important towns of Tunis, according to 

 these two sources (M. indicating Maltzahn, 

 and P. Perry) : 



Bedja 5,000 (X.) 



" , 9,000 (P.) 



Biserta 5.000 (M.) 



5.500 (P.) 



Djemal 6,000 (P.) 



Jabos 6.000 (M.) 



Jafsa 5,000 (M.) 



Kairoan 12,000 (M.) 



.. 15-20,000 (P.) 



Kef. .' 5,000 (M.) 



6,600 (P.) 



Mahadia 9,000 (M.i 



6,000 (P.) 



Monastir 8.000 (M. and P.) 



Msaken 10,000 (P.) 



Nefta 8,200 (M.) 



Sfaks 10,000 (M.) 



Ssaydy bu Ssayd 5,000 (M.) 



Susa.; . 7.500 (M.) 



" . 10.000 (P.) 



Tunis 125,000 (M. and P.) 



The city of Tunis had among its population 

 32,000 Jews, 13,000 Christians, the remainder 

 being Mohammedans. Of Europeans, there 

 were 6,000 Italians, 6,000 Maltese, 1,500 

 Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Germans, and 300 

 Greeks. According to Salaheddin-Bey, Tunis 

 is said to have 150,000 inhabitants. A few 

 Christians and 600 Jews were living in the 

 town of Kef. 



At the beginning of the year 1871, the 

 Imaum of Muscat was slain in battle, and was 

 succeeded by Synd Toskes, the victor. The 

 new ruler possessed a naval force almost unex- 

 ampled in the history of the East, the register 

 showing an eighty-four-gun ship, two seventy- 

 four-gun ships, and over fifty square-rigged 

 'vessels, most of them armed, and built at 

 Bombay, after European models. 



In September an insurrection of the Kabyles 

 broke out in Morocco. The cause of the out- 

 break was the establishment of a Moorish cus- 

 tom-house on the coast. The revolted Kabyles 

 also committed overt acts against the Spanish 

 garrison of Melilla (a seaport town belonging 

 to Spain). They planted a battery within 

 range of the citadel, with the intention of 

 bombarding it, but their guns were dismounted 

 by the fire from the Spanish fortifications. 



The reports from the diamond-fields in South 

 Africa, though, to some extent, contradictory, 

 continued to attract, throughout the year, a 

 large floating population. A number of settle- 

 ments were arising, and Du Toit's Pan was, in 

 November, 1871, reported to have a population 

 of 16,000. 



In March information was received in Paris 

 that the Arab chief Sidi Mohrani, with 40,000 

 troops, was within twenty-five leagues of Al- 

 giers, and had declared war against France. 

 The leader of the insurrection was killed in 

 May, but, on July 1st, Jules Favre, in the Na- 



tional Assembly, admitted that several districts 

 were still in the hands of the insurgents. He 

 denied that the property of the insurgents had 

 been confiscated. In October advices were 

 received stating that the natives in the north- 

 ern part of Constantino had risen against the 

 French, and were in open hostility. In No- 

 vember the French Government announced 

 that the restoration of tranquillity was nearly 

 completed. 



In December, it was officially announced in 

 the Cape Colony, that in fulfilment of a recent 

 contract of sale made to the English Crown, 

 by the free preemptors of the diamond fields, 

 the territory of these fields had been annexed 

 to the English dominions in South Africa. The 

 tender of arbitration, wherein the governments 

 of Germany, Holland, and the United States 

 were to act as umpires, had arrived too late 

 to suspend the negotiations. Mr. Brand, Presi- 

 dent of the Free States, issued a formal protest 

 against the transfer of the diamond fields to 

 Great Britain. 



AFZELIUS, ARVID AUGUST, an eminent 

 Swedish historian and clergyman, born in 

 Broddetorps, Sweden, May 6, 1785 ; died in the 

 rector's house at Enkoping, where he had re- 

 sided over half a century, September 25, 1871. 

 The family of Afzelius is one of the most cele- 

 brated for learning in "West Gothland, and five 

 of its members have attained a cosmopolitan 

 reputation in science, philology, and literature. 

 Receiving a very thorough home-training, 

 young Afzelius entered the University of Up- 

 sala in 1809, and, two years later, having 

 gained the title of Master of Philosophy, was 

 ordained a priest. His brilliant talents and 

 rare oratorical powers led to his appointment 

 in 1812 as preacher to the court of Sweden, 

 and the following year as head court-preacher. 

 In 1821 he was installed in the pastorate of 

 Enkoping and Narfrukyr-koforsamlings, which 

 position he held until his death, a period of 

 over fifty years. From the time that he en- 

 tered the University of Upsala he had devoted 

 himself to the study of Scandinavian history 

 and folk-lore. In 1815, in company with Erik 

 Gustav Geijer, and Rask, the Danish archaeolo- 

 gist, he made many translations from the songs 

 of the Icelandic Edda into the Swedish tongue, 

 which are still greatly prized for their charm- 

 ing simplicity and their highly-poetic spirit. 

 In 1816 he composed a tragedy, in six acts ; 

 but, though possessing rare poetic merit, it was 

 not adapted to the stage, and was not success- 

 ful. He also wrote several psalms, which are 

 still in use in the Swedish Lutheran churches. 

 But his great work, and the one which has 

 made his name a household word, as his works 

 are household books in almost every family of 

 Sweden and Denmark, is his " Svenska Folkets 

 Sagohafder," or Swedish Chronicles, univer- 

 sally known in those countries as the " Afzeh 

 Chronicles," published in 1839-'43. This is a 

 faithful description of the home-life, customs, 

 early laws, and habits and manners of the 



