AFRICA. 



bulwark of India, and we cannot and will not allow 

 its future fate to be at the disposition of a foreign 

 power. 



AFRICA. In consequence of the annexa- 

 tion of Darfoor, and other territories, Egypt 

 has advanced another step toward a front 

 rank among the great nations of the globe. 

 It now has an area of more than 1,500,000 

 square miles, and while a year ago (see ANNUAL 

 CYCLOPAEDIA, 1874, article AFRICA) its popu- 

 lation was estimated at only 8,000,000, it is 

 now estimated at more than 14,000,000. Its 

 area already exceeds that of the whole of the 

 other dominions of the Sultan, and, as it is now 

 extending westward and southward with un- 

 interrupted rapidity, the same will soon be the 

 case with its population. In view of this rapid 

 growth, the establishment of its entire inde- 

 pendence within a few years can no longer be 

 doubted. As internal reforms continue to go 

 hand in hand with the steady extension of its 

 boundaries, it will soon be recognized as by far 

 the greatest of all the African states. Finan- 

 cial embarrassments, however, compelled the 

 Khedive, in November, to sell his shares of the 

 Suez Canal Company to Great Britain, a trans- 

 action which was expected to increase English 

 influence in Egyptian affairs. (See EGYPT.) 



Abyssinia again suffers severely from civil 

 wars, and appears to be in imminent danger 

 of being swallowed up by the rapid advance 

 of the Egyptians. In November the Abys- 

 sinians claimed to have obtained a great vic- 

 tory over the troops of the Khedive, who, 

 toward the close of the war, dispatched a 

 considerable new force toward Abyssinia. (See 

 ABYSSINIA.) 



The Sultanate of Morocco was greatly dis- 

 turbed by insurrections. The Government ap- 

 pears to be anxious to strengthen its connec- 

 tion with the nations of the civilized world, 

 and to introduce telegraphs, railroads, and other 

 improvements. (See MOEOCOO.) 



In Tripoli, insults were offered by the popu- 

 lace to the American consul, and subsequently, 

 in August, to the officers of the American war- 

 steamers Congress and Hartford. Satisfaction 

 was immediately given for the insults to the offi- 

 cers, and somewhat later for those to the consul. 



The boundaries of the British dominions in 

 South Africa were again extended by the an- 

 nexation of East Griqualand, which the Gov- 

 ernor of the Cape Colony, Sir H. Barclay, on 

 the 10th of October, 1874, incorporated with the 

 British territory. The annexed country was 

 formerly called Adam Kok's territory, and is 

 situated south of Natal, in independent Kaffra- 

 ria. Its boundaries, according to the " Map 

 of Independent Kaffraria," in The Mission 

 Field (London, January, 1874), are, on the 

 north, the Umzinkulu, which separates it from 

 Natal ; on the west the Kwathlamba Mountains ; 

 on the south and west a line which runs down 

 from the Kwathlamba Mountains along the 

 Umsimvubu River, then turns in a northwest- 

 erly direction, along the Jugele Mountains, 



toward the source of the Umtanfana, passes 

 along an affluent of the Umzinkulu, and finally 

 reaches the latter river. By the annexation 

 of East Griqualand to the British possessions, 

 the territory of independent Kaffraria has been 

 reduced to 11,672 square miles, with a popula- 

 tion of about 175,000. The area and popula- 

 tion of the British possessions are now com- 

 puted as follows : 



A movement for uniting all the English pos- 

 sessions of South Africa into one confederacy 

 was not only meeting with great favor in the 

 colonies, but a tendency to join it was even 

 manifested in the Transvaal Republic. Sir Gar- 

 net Wolseley, the successful commander of the 

 expedition against the Ashantees, was appoint- 

 ed Governor of Natal, which, with all its fine 

 resources, has thus far not made that material 

 progress, which is the very breath of life to a 

 colony. The hope was widely entertained that 

 under the new Governor the colony would tri- 

 umph over the difficulties and dangers which 

 must beset 16,000 whites surrounded by 350,- 

 000 blacks. In the latter part of the year, 

 however, Sir Garnet Wolseley was recalled to 

 England, and another Governor appointed for 

 Natal. Langalibalele, the arrested native chief, 

 has been released and provided with a comfort- 

 able location in the Cape Colony, where, with 

 such wives and relatives as choose to join him, 

 he will reside as an exile on parole and under 

 surveillance. His tribe has been broken up, 

 the people being allowed to seek work and to 

 go where they will, but not to reform them- 

 selves into a tribe. 



In Liberia, a war commenced in September 

 against the aborigines, under several educated 

 natives. It was believed that the natives were 

 supplied by English traders with firearms and 

 ammunition. The "American Colonization 

 Society," to which the Liberian Republic owes 

 its foundation, applied to the President of the 

 United States for assistance. 



The French colony of Senegal appears to be 

 in a very disaifected state. In February, a 

 revolt was organized by a Marabout, named 

 Amadon-Sekon, a very courageous native. He 

 succeeded in collecting a force estimated at 

 10,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry, but, in an 

 encounter which took place on February llth, 

 was not only defeated but killed. 



The kingdom of Wadai, in Central Africa, 

 has for the first time been made fully known 

 to the civilized world by the African traveler 

 Dr. Nachtigal. (See WADAI.) 



The successful issue of the war against the 



