AFRICA. 



property. The revenue in 1881 was .9,229,965. 

 The principal source of revenue is a land-tax. 

 The Egyptian finances were managed from 1879 

 till 1882 under the joint control of England and 

 France, each represented by a Controller-General. 

 The military movement of 1882 led to the inter- 

 vention of England, a short campaign, and the 

 attempted reorganisation of Egypt under the 

 Khedive as a constitutional sovereign. Close on 

 this followed the rebellion of the Soudanese pro- 

 vinces belonging to Egypt, under the Mahdi or 

 soldier-prophet, the English expedition to the 

 Soudan, the siege of Khartoum, and the death of 

 Gordon Pasha. 



Nubia, lately Egyptian, lies to the south of 

 Egypt. It contains many old Egyptian monu- 

 ments from Philas to the island of Argo. Nubia 

 consists of two parts : the southern, which is 

 within the limits of the tropical rains; and the 

 northern, which is beyond those limits, and, like 

 Egypt, is extremely dry ; being, in fact, desert, 

 excepting within a quarter of a mile on either 

 side of the banks of the Nile, which flows 

 through it. 



ABYSSINIA. 



Abyssinia, lying to the south-east of Nubia, and 

 along the Red Sea, is for the greater part moun- 

 tainous, having high table-lands and deep ravines. 

 The Samen or Samien Mountains rise to a height 

 of 15,000 feet. Between the highlands and the 

 Red Sea is Adal, a flat country. The chief rivers 

 are the Bahr-el-Azrek, or Blue Nile ; the Takazze, 

 a tributary of the Nile ; and the Hawash in the 

 south, which flows eastward into Lake Assal in 

 Adal. Tzana, or Dembea, is the largest lake, 

 round which the country is extremely fertile. 

 The climate and productions vary with the 

 varying characters of the countiy. Abyssinia is 

 divided into three main districts : Tigre", which 

 is the northern promontory of the table-land; 

 Amhara, which is the middle province, and in 

 which Gondar, usually reckoned the capital, is 

 situated ; and Shoa, which is the southern exten- 

 sion of the highlands. Abyssinia has acquired 

 an interest from the late self-styled Emperor 

 Theodore, who, having subdued the other chiefs 

 or kings, began a frightful course of tyranny and 

 cruelty. At last he imprisoned the British consul 

 and other Europeans, and compelled the British 

 government to send an expedition of 10,000 troops, 

 which (1868) took his fortress of Magdala, where 

 he was found among the slain. On the withdrawal 

 of the British forces, the native chiefs began to 

 struggle, as usual, for the supremacy. From the 

 4th century, the Abyssinians have professed Chris- 

 tianity, which among them is mixed with Judaism 

 and paganism. Their bishop, or Abuna, is con- 

 secrated by the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria. 

 The state of civilisation is low. 



Somaliland, the triangular tract lying south-east 

 of Abyssinia, is bounded on the north by the 

 Gulf of Aden, on the east by the Indian Ocean, 

 and on the south and west by the Indian Ocean 

 and the river Jub, and has an area of 330,000 

 square miles. The principal rivers are the Jub, j 

 the Haines, and the Nogal. Between the Jub and | 

 the Haines, the country is grain-producing ; be- 

 tween the Haines and Nogal, it is well adapted for 

 pasture-land. The Somali are a people of Arabian 



descent, and addicted to pastoral pursuits. Somali- 

 land excels all other countries in odoriferous gums 

 which are conveyed to Aden. The chief trading- 

 place in Somaliland, which was explored, in 1854, 

 by Burton and Speke, is Berbera, on the coast 

 opposite to Aden. 



ZANZIBAR. 



The sultanate of Zanzibar consists of the island 

 of that name, and a coast-tract on the mainland, 

 extending more than 1000 miles from Somaliland 

 to Mozambique, with an undefined breadth towards 

 the interior. The island, which is about 25 miles 

 from the continent, has an area of very nearly 620 

 square miles, with a population of 200,000, of which 

 the town of Zanzibar, the capital of the sultanate, 

 contains 100,000. They consist of Arabs, Banyans 

 or Hindu traders, and negroes. Zanzibar is the 

 commercial emporium for the central regions of 

 the continent. A large part of the traffic has 

 hitherto been in slaves ; but the sultan, at the 

 instance of Great Britain, has undertaken to sup- 

 press it. Zanzibar, which from 1784 was under 

 the government of the Imaum of Muscat, became 

 a separate dominion in 1854. 



MOZAMBIQUE. 



Mozambique extends from Cape Delgado to 

 Delagoa Bay, and is divided by the Zambesi river 

 into Mozambique Proper and Sofala. The area 

 is 283,500 square miles, and the population 300,000. 

 The country belongs nominally to the Portuguese, 

 who have a governor -general there, but their 

 actual possessions are confined to a few stations, 

 of which Mozambique, Quilimane, Sena, and Tele" 

 are the principal. Mozambique, the capital, is 

 situated on a small coral island, a little distance 

 from the shore, and has a population of 8522, of 

 whom 7000 are slaves. The country is rich, but 

 it has an unhealthy climate. 



CENTRAL AFRICA. 



Central Africa includes the whole of the interior 

 of the continent south of the Great Desert. The 

 efforts of English and French travellers in the i7th 

 and 1 8th centuries, were directed to explore the 

 country of the Niger, in Northern Central Africa, 

 called Sudan or Nigritia, and to reach the famous 

 city of Timbuktu, reported as being situated on 

 its banks. For a time, the English supposed the 

 Gambia, and the French the Senegal, to be the 

 outlet of the Niger. At length, in 1795, Mungo 

 Park, having landed on the African coast, set out 

 from the village of Pisania, on the Gambia, and 

 after various adventures came in sight of the 

 Niger, near Sego. In 1805, at the instance ot 

 the government, he undertook another journey 

 with the purpose of ' proceeding up the Gambia, 

 crossing the country to the Niger, and travelling 

 down that river to its termination.' Mungo Park 

 succeeded in tracing the course of the Niger 

 eastward beyond Timbuktu, and southward as 

 far as Boussa. Richard Lander, in 1830-31, 

 solved the mystery attaching to the river, which 

 was found by several outlets, and with a large 

 delta, to enter the Gulf of Guinea. This delta 

 is about the size of Ireland. In the years 



