Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/289

Rh STATES.] AFRICA 207 through, two smaller lakes with low sandhills between; nearer Suez a depressed area, in which several salt lakes formerly existed, has been filled up by water let in by the canal, and now forms a wide expanse of water. In length the canal is nearly 100 miles, and has a depth throughout of 26 feet, with a general width of 200 to 300 feet at the top of the banks and 72 feet at the bottom. Vessels are able to steam or be towed through the canal in sixteen hours from sea to sea. Extensive harbours and docks have been constructed both on the Mediterranean side and at Suez. The number of vessels which entered Port Said in 1871 was 1215, of 928,000 tons, exclusive of 87 war-ships. Egypt proper is divided into three sub-pashalics Bahari or Lower Egypt, Vostani or Middle Egypt, and Said or Upper Egypt. Cairo, on the east bank of the Nile, is the capital of Egypt, and is the largest town of Africa, containing 354,000 inhabitants: it has 400 mosques, and upwards of 130 minarets, some of them of rich and graceful architec ture, presenting at a distance an appearance singularly imposing. Alexandria, on the coast, is the emporium of the commerce with Europe, and has 220,000 inhabitants, among whom are 54,000 Europeans. Damietta has a population of 37,100; Rosetta of 18,300. Suez, on the northern extremity of the Bed Sea, is a small, ill-built town, but has assumed importance as a good port since the establishment of the overland route to India and the completion of the maritime canal. It has now nearly 14,000 inhabitants, of whom about 2500 are Europeans. Port Said has 8800 inhabitants, of whom one-half are foreigners. Nubia extends along the Red Sea, from Egypt to Abys sinia, comprising the middle course of the Nila The natural features of the country are varied; the northern portion consisting of a burning sterile wilderness, while the southern, lying within the range of the tropical rains, and watered by the Abyssinian affluents of the Nile, exhibits vegetation in its tropical glory, forests of arborescent grasses, timber-trees, and parasitical plants largely clothing the country. This latter territory, which may be called Upper Nubia, includes the region of ancient Meroe, situated in the peninsula formed by the Nile proper, the Blue River, and the Atbara, and comprises, further south, the recently extinguished modern kingdom of Sennaar. Nubia forms the link between the plain of Egypt and the high table-lands of Abyssinia ; its general physical character is that of a slightly ascending region. The lowest parts in Upper Nubia scarcely exceed an altitude of 1300 feet; Khartum, at the confluence of the Blue and White Rivers, being 1345 feet above the level of the sea. A chain of mountains and elevated land rises abruptly along the shores of the Red Sea, gradually sloping down to the valley of the Nile; the intermediate region being intersected by smaller ranges, groups of hills, and numerous wadys filled with sand. The spurs of the Abyssinian table-land, extending within the southern confines of Nubia, reach a height of 3000 feet. Besides the Nile, the country is watered by two other large rivers, its tributaries, the Bhar-el-Azrek or Blue River, and the Atbara or Takkazze, both being much alike in magnitude, and having their head-streams in the Abyssinian table-land. The climate of Nubia is tropical throughout, and the heat in the deserts of its central portions is not exceeded by that of any other part of the globe. The southern half of the country is within the influence of the tropical rains, the northern partakes the character of the almost rainless Sahara ; and while the latter is generally very salubrious, the former is a land of dangerous fevers, particularly in the plains subject to inundations. Such is the Kolla, a marshy and swampy region of great extent, situated along the foot of the Abyssinian Mountains, between the Blue River and the Takkazze. The northern region is poor in natural productions, but in the south the vegetation is most luxuriant ; palms form a prominent feature, and the monkey bread-tree attains its most colossal dimensions. The date -tree, dourra, cotton, and indigo are cultivated. The date-palm does not ex tend beyond the south of Abou-Egli, in lat. 18 36. The elephant occasionally wanders as far as Sennaar ; the rhinoceros, lion, giraffe, and buffalo are more common. The waters are inhabited by crocodiles more ferocious than those of Egypt, and by huge hippopotami. The young hippopotamus brought to the Zoological Gardens of London in 1850, was captured in Niibia, in an island of the Nile, about 1800 miles above Cairo : no living specimen had been seen in Europe since the period when they were exhibited by the third Gordian in the Colosseum at Rome. Monkeys and antelopes are found in great numbers. The camel does not extend beyond the twelfth degree of latitude to the south. Ostriches roam over the deserts ; and among the reptiles, besides the crocodile, are large serpents of the python species, and tortoises. Of the numerous insects the most remarkable is the scarabseus of the ancient Egyp tians, still found in Sennaar. Of minerals Nubia possesses gold, silver, copper, iron, salt. In the inhabitants two principal varieties are recognised, the pure original population, and their descendants, mixed with other nations. The Berbevines inhabit the northern part, and the Bisharis the desert regions; the latter are the genuine Nubians, finely moulded and dark complexioned, supposed by some to agree more closely with the ancient Egyptians than the Copts, usually deemed their represen tatives. In the south-eastern part the true Negro element appears. Nubia, now a province under the pashalic of Egypt, con sisted formerly of a number of small and independent king doms. The Turkish conquest lasted from 1813 to 1822; in the latter years it was invaded and mercilessly ravaged by the army of Mahomet Ali, under his second son Ismayl, whose dreadful atrocities entailed a fearful fate upon him self, having been surprised when attending a nocturnal banquet, at some distance from his camp, and burned to death. The country is favourable for agriculture, which, how ever, is only carried on to a limited extent, by the women. Cattle are abundant, and the camels of the Bisharin and Ababde are famous for their enduring powers. Salt is largely exported from the shores of the Red Sea to India, and ivory, with other products of tropical Africa, forms a principal article of trade. Khartum, the capital of Nubia, the headquarters of the Egyptian government, and the chief seat of commerce, con tains a population variously estimated at from 20,000 to 50,000. It is a modern town, having been founded in 1821, and lies in a dry, flat, and unhealthy country, near the confluence of the two main branches of the Nile. It is in telegraphic communication with Cairo. Kordofan, on the western side of Nubia, lies between the Kordof parallels of 12 and 16, and between the meridians 29 and 32, containing about 30,000 square miles. It is a flat country, interspersed with a few hills, presenting in the dry season a desert with little appearance of vegetation, and in the rainy season a prairie, covered with luxuriant grass and other plants. The general elevation of the country is 2000 feet, and some of the hills attain a height of 3000. The altitude of El Obeid is 2150 feet. There are no permanent rivers in the country, and the natural products are similar to those of the adjoining regions of Nubia. The population consists of Negroes. This country wna. simultaneously with Nubia, made tributary to Egypt. The