312 



EGYPT. 



MOVEMENT OF SHIPS THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL. 



Of these there were 2,537 commercial ships, 

 580 postal, and 507 composed of transports, 

 canonnieres yachts, rams, and other vessels of 

 war. The nations were thus represented : 

 English, 2,734; French, 294; German, 155; 

 Holland, 139 ; Italian, 109 ; Austro-Hungarian, 

 69 ; Norwegian, 30 ; Russian, 29 ; Spanish, 26 ; 

 Ottoman, 16; Egyptian, 7; Portuguese, 5; 

 American, 3 ; Danish, 3 ; Japanese 2 ; Belgian, 

 1 ; Greek, 1 ; Persian, 1. 



On May 27 an action was brought against 

 "La Compagnie Universelle du Canal Mari- 

 time de Suez," by the Egyptian Government, 

 for customs dues on dredges and plant used 

 in the service of the canal, and the case was 

 decided by the Mixed Tribunals in favor of 

 the Government. 



The company have within a short time pur- 

 chased, for the service of the canal a sweet- 

 water way leading to the Suez Canal, for the 

 better alimentation of points leading from 1s- 

 inalia to Port Said. 



Discovery of Petroleum. On the llth of 

 April the Egyptian Government announced 

 that the sources of petroleum discovered sev- 

 eral years ago at Gebel-el-Ziet (Oil Mountain) 

 on the Red Sea, and also at Djemisah, were 

 running oil at the rate of 150 metres cube per 

 diem, and that the Government was prepared 

 to deliver samples of the oil at Suez, and had 

 granted 3,000 in order to continue further 

 exploration. On the 18th of September the 

 convicts employed in working the wells re- 

 volted, the troops were called upon to quell 

 the riot, and killed twenty-four men. The dis- 

 covery promises to become a source of great 

 revenue for Egypt. 



Osman Digma, reported as having been 

 killed, has been resurrected, and when heard 

 from, on the 18th of June of this year, was 

 actually threatening Tamai with a large force. 

 He has successfully held the Suakin route 

 against all the efforts of the English either to 

 open it or to construct the proposed railway 

 from Suakin to Berber. 



Annexation in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. 

 Egypt, by virtue of cessions from Turkey, held 

 undisputed control over the province of Harrar, 

 the ports of Suakin and Zeilah, and by virtue 

 of conquest claimed the port of Berbera, the 



Socotras, Cape Guardafui, and the east coast 

 of Africa down to the equator. England seized 

 in the commencement of the present year Har- 

 rar, Zeilah, and Berbera, and as late as October 

 30 took possession of the island of Socotra. 

 Italy, on the other hand, in accord with Eng- 

 land, seized and occupied with Italian troops the 

 ports of Assab and Massouah. France has had 

 possession of the port of Obok, which she ob- 

 tained several years ago by right of purchase 

 from Menelik, King of Shoa. France has also 

 obtained a foothold at Madagascar and in the 

 Comoro islands. Germany, not to be outdone, 

 has sent a squadron to Zanzibar to execute a 

 naval demonstration there, it is said, to demand 

 reparation for the murder of the late Dr. 

 Jiihlke, a German subject, who was murdered 

 at Kismayu. The demonstration is in fact in- 

 tended to strengthen the hands of the Ger- 

 man colony adjacent to Zanzibar. A German 

 squadron was before Zanzibar on Dec. 25. 



The seizure of Massouah by Italy was re- 

 sented by Egypt, in so far that she protests 

 that she should not pay the annual tribute of 

 35,000 heretofore paid by her to Turkey, but 

 that it should be paid by Italy. In consequence 

 of the reported removal of the French flag at 

 Dongarita, a point on the Somali coast, over 

 which both England and France claim the 

 right of a protectorate. It is said that the 

 French Government has requested explanations 

 concerning the motives for the action of the 

 English resident at Aden. 



The Porro Expedition. On January 26, Count 

 Porro, an Italian subject, quitted Naples in 

 command of an expedition organized by the 

 Commercial Exploration Society of Milan and 

 the Italian Geographical Society, for the pur- 

 pose of entering Harrar and the Somali coun- 

 try. The Emir of Harrar, when he heard of it, 

 sent a number of his armed men ostensibly to 

 act as friendly guards. When near Arton in 

 the interior, the arms of the Count and his 

 companions were stolen, and the whole party 

 treacherously murdered. 



The Eing of Uganda and the Massacre of Mission- 

 aries. King M'Tse died in 1884, and was suc- 

 ceeded by his son, Prince M'Wanga, who has 

 recently caused Bishop Hannington to be put 

 to death and many Christian converts burned 

 at the stake. A dispatch dated Dec. 15 an- 

 nounced that King M'Wanga has attacked and 

 defeated Keba Rega, the King of Unyoro. 

 From this it is inferred that Emin Bey, the 

 Egyptian governor, is in peril. 



Emin Bey, lately named a pasha by the Khe- 

 dive of Egypt, is an Austrian subject by the 

 name of Schnitzler. He joined the service 

 of the Government of the Equatorial Prov- 

 inces some time in 1878, for the purpose of 

 pursuing his botanical investigations, and was 

 made sub-governor of the extreme southern 

 provinces, extending to Uganda, by Gen. Gor- 

 don, when the latter was Governor-General, 

 with headquarters at Gondokoro, but which 

 he subsequently removed to Khartoum, leav- 



