TEADE— RAILWAYS AND TELEGRAPHS. 



441 



From the head of the delta the network of railways is continued along the 

 right bank of the Nile southwards to Siut. For the purpose of forwarding troops, 

 and other military purposes, the late Khedive had also caused other lines to be 

 constructed still farther south, which at one time the English intended to carry as 

 far as Dongola. All the sugar plantations, both in Upper Egypt and in the 

 delta, have also their special system of narrow-gauge lines connected with the 

 general network. Amongst the projected lines there are several which, when 

 carried out, will place the whole of the Nile Valley in direct railway communica- 

 tion with the ports of the Red Sea. 



The telegraph has preceded the locomotive in every direction, and a few years 



Fig. 136. — Egyptian Railways 



Scale 1 : 6,000,000. 



Railways. 



Abandoned lines. 



60 Miles. 



Telegraph line Leyond 

 the railway system. 



ago had already been extended across the desert southwards to the equatorial 

 regions. But the small number of private messages, as well as the low proportion 

 of postal correspondence, less than one letter per head of the population, shows 

 that, apart from the Government officials, little use is made of these means of 

 correspondence except by Europeans and other strangers domiciled in Egypt. 



Speaking generally, the trade of Egypt is relatively more developed than that 

 of several European countries. Calculated by the number of inhabitants, it 

 amounts to nearty half the commerce of France, while even exceeding it in the 

 relative movement of the shipping in the ports of the Mediterranean and Red Sea. 

 Even before taking possession of the country, England held the first position in 

 this respect, about forty-five per cent, of the gross tonnage of all vessels frequenting 



