EGYPT. 



cotton-seed (98,000,000 piasters), wheat (56,- 

 000,000 piasters), beans (73,000,000 piasters), 

 sugar (380,000 cwt, valued at 37,000,000 pias- 

 ters.) 



The commerce of Egypt continues to de- 

 rive great advantages from the construction of 

 the Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean 

 with the Red Sea, opened for navigation No- 

 vember 17, 1869. The income of the compa- 

 ny was, in 1871, 13,276,000 francs; in 1872, 

 18,326,000 ; during the first nine months of the 

 year 1873, 17,900,000. The expenditures were 

 in 1871, 16,918,000, in 1872, 16,253,000. The 

 number of vessels passing through the canal 

 from 1870 to 1872 was as follows : 



EUROPE. 



273 



The following exhibits the nationality, num- 

 ber, and tonnage of the vessels passing through 

 the Suez Canal in the year 1871 : 



On January 1, 1872, the aggregate length of 

 the railways which were in operation was 

 1,047 kilometres (1 kilometre=0.62 English 

 mile). The telegraph-lines had an aggregate 

 length of 6,297 kilometres, the telegraph-wires 

 of 13,374. 



A contract of marriage between the hered- 

 itary prince of Egypt and the daughter of El- 

 hani Pasha was signed on January 16, 1873, in 

 the presence of the Khedive, the cabinet, the 

 highest officials of the viceregal court, and 

 the representatives of the foreign powers. 

 Each consul received the present of a Cash- 

 mere shawl and a dromedary. On the 18th, 

 there were races, and in the evening a grand 

 ball was given. The Sultan of Turkey sent 

 congratulations and honors to the Khedive and 

 the members of his family. 



The difficulty between Egypt and Abyssinia, 

 concerning the occupation of the Bogos coun- 

 try by the Egyptians, appears to have been 

 settled, the Abyssinians having during the year 

 1873 made no resistance to the organization of 

 the country by Werner Munzinger, the Egyp- 

 tian Governor of Snakin and Massownh. Mnn- 

 zinger wrote on November 26, 1872, on the 

 Egyptian occupation of these border districts, 

 to the Geographitette Mittheilungen of Gotha, 

 as follows: "The districts which we have 

 taken, or mostly retaken, are Menso, Bo- 



VOl. XIII. 18 A 



gos, Takue, and Bedjnk, for Marea has been 

 paying tribute to us for thirty years. The 

 newly-acquired territory is of small extent, 

 but of great importance, because its occupa- 

 tion secures peace and order in Habab, Sam- 

 har, Huron, and Bazen. Since I have been es- 

 tablished at Tantarua, a profound peace has 

 prevailed along the whole border. Here (at 

 Massowah) I am occupied with the construc- 

 tion of an aqueduct, which is now finished 

 from Molulln to the sea." 



Sir Samuel Baker safely returned from his 

 expedition into the interior of Africa to Khar- 

 toum, on June 29th. According to his re- 

 ports, made to the Egyptian Government, 

 the country as far south as the equator has 

 been annexed to Egypt. The slave-trade has 

 been suppressed, and all rebellious movements 

 and secret intrigues checked. The country is 

 orderly and its government perfectly organized. 

 A road has been opened to Zanzibar, free from 

 interruption. He won a victory on the 6th of 

 May, with only one hundred and five men, 

 over the army of the African chief Onioso. His 

 mission, he claims, has been perfectly success- 

 ful. Baker made Fatiko the capital of the new 

 territory, and appointed officers in other places. 

 The natives expressed themselves entirely sat- 

 isfied with the new order of things, and punc- 

 tually paid the tribute imposed upon them. 

 Gondocoro will be the second capital; and 

 eight other places will be made chief stations, 

 and form an uninterrupted chain leading from 

 Nubia to the Albert Nyanza, 



In June the Sultan issued & firman granting 

 to the Khedive independent civil, military, and 

 diplomatic rights. The firman confirms all 

 the rights conceded to the Khedive by former 

 firmans, and regulates the appointment of a 

 regency, in case the successor of the Khedive 

 should not be of age. The Khedive is to pay 

 hereafter to the Sultan a tribute of 150,000 

 purses annually. 



Protcstanism is gaining a foothold in Egypt, 

 chiefly by the efforts of the American mission- 

 aries of the United Presbyterian Church. Their 

 missions constitute the "Presbytery of Egypt," 

 which transacts its business and keeps its rec- 

 ords in the Arabic language. At the meet- 

 ing of the presbytery, held in 1873, there were 

 present, as members of the presbytery, eight 

 ministers (six of whom were missionaries and 

 two natives) and five native elders. The com- 

 mittee appointed to translate the Book of Dis- 

 cipline reported the translation of the three 

 parts known as "Form of Government," 

 " General Administration," and " Book of Dis- 

 cipline," at the same time suggesting that a 

 copy of the translation in writing would be 

 given to each congregation, to be corrected 

 and returned at the next annual meeting. A 

 call from the Cairo congregation, for a native 

 Egyptian (Copt), Ibrahim Yusef, to become 

 their pastor, was presented to him, and, after 

 considerable deliberation, was accepted. 

 EUROPE. At the beginning of the year, 



