314 
GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 
ami M. Sporck, who left Zanzibar on July 6, 1895, crossed the Nile on 
January 19 followiufr, and arrived on the west coast by the first week in 
August, having crossed the continent in the brief space of 13 months. 
Kongo F hee State. The Kongo State railway has now reached Tumba, 
187 kilometers from the starting point. 
Morocco. Neither roads, canals, navigable rivers, nor railways exist 
in jNlorocco, nor are they thought of. Foot couriers constitute the fastest 
medium of communication. 
Orange Free State. Dr Emil Holub, the well-known explorer, now 
of Vienna, has received advices of the discovery of gold fields in the 
( )range F ree State which it is anticipated will rival those of the Transvaal 
in productiveness. 
M ADAGASCAR. While there is no longer any open resistance to French 
rule, Madagascar is in a condition of anarchy from one end to the other, 
and only the towns occupied by troops are safe for Europeans. 
Zanzibar. In a recent report of the British consul at Zanzibar atten- 
tion is called to tbe decline in the imports from Great Britain. Un- 
bleached cotton cloth is imported mainly from the United States, being 
admittedly of better quality than Manchester productions of the same 
price. 
Transvaal. The first count of a census of population within a radius 
of three miles of Johanuesbiirg gives a total of 102,714, consisting of 51,225 
whites, 44,390 kallirs, and 7,093 half-breeds. Of the whites, 32,741 are 
males and 18,484 females. 
Egypt. An electric street railway has been opened in Cairo. 
The numl>er of pieces of mail matter dealt with by the Egyptian post- 
oliice in 1895 was 22.440,000, against 21,070,000 in 1894. 
The annual overtlow of the Nile is two weeks late and great anxiety is 
expressed with regard to the maize and rice crops. 
At Kosheh, where a contingent of the Anglo-Egyptian army is await- 
ing the advent of cooler weather before continuing its advance into the 
interior, the mercury recently stood at 130° in the shade. 
^Iauritius. In a recent lecture on “ Mauritius, Past and Present,” Sir • 
Hubert Jerningham, the governor of the island, stated that if English 
was the otficial and commercial language, French remained the language 
of the home, and if gratitude for the numerous benefits bestowed by 
England upon the community assured attachment to that country, the 
heart of the old colonists still beats in their descendants. 
AUSTRALASIA 
The annual financial statements of the different Australasian govern- 
ments nearly all show increa.sed revenues and substantial surpluses. 
New South Wai.ks. It is pi'oposed by the colonial government that a 
great Australasian exposition shall be held at Sydney in 1899, the ex- 
hibits to be afterward sent to Paris. 
Tasmania. The yield of gold during the June quarter amounted to 
17,000 ounces, being an increase of 10,000 ounces as compared with the 
corresponding period of last year. 
