Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/791

767 ISMAIL.] EGYPT 707 (pron. khedeev), and settling the succession on the eldest son; and in 1872 another firman made him virtually an independent sovereign. Having thus obtained for himself and his dynasty a settled regal rank, Ismail turned his attention home wards, and began a series of reforms such as no previous governor of Egypt ever contemplated. He re-established and improved the administrative system organized by Mehemet AH, and which had fallen into decay under AbbAs s indolent rule ; he caused a thorough remodelling of the customs system, which was in an anarchic state, to b made by English officials ; in 1865 he bought the Egyptian post-office, and placed it under the direction, with full powers, of an official from St Martin s le Grand, who has brought it into admirable working order; he re organized the military schools of his grandfather, and lent his willing support to the cause of education in every way. Public works have largely engaged the attention of the khedive. Railways, telegraphs, lighthouses, the harbour works at Suez, the breakwater at Alexandria, have been carried out under his personal auspices by some of the best contractors of Europe. If there is a fault to be found in this Europeanizing of Egypt, it is that the practical zeal for modern civilization leaves no room for the honourable respect due to the unique antiquities of the country. It is true that ancient Egypt is protected by the care of Mariette Bey, but the art of the Arabs is suffered to decay, nay, is even purposely demolished, to make room for modern French gewgaws. A recent writer tells us that a new street cuts through about a mile of the &quot;old Arab rookeries,&quot; and gravely advances the opinion that the opera house and the public gardens and the other meretricious abominations that have been set up in Cairo are worthy of a second class European city! Still, terrible as is the vandalism now going on in Egypt, there can be little doubt that the present policy of the khedive will add greatly to the prosperity and health of the people. At the same time, future generations will gain at the fearful expense of the present. The funds required for these public works, as well as the actual labour, have been remorselessly extorted from a poverty-stricken population ; and there is probably no peasant now existing whose condition is worse than that of the long-suffering Egyptian fellah. One of the greatest reforms that Egypt owes to its present ruler is the abolition of the old system of consular juris diction, and the substitution of mixed courts, where Euro pean and native judges sit together to try all mixed cases without respect to nationality. These courts were estab lished in 1876 on the suggestion of the wisest of Egypt s statesmen, Nubar Pasha, and on the recommendation of an international commission. A code based on the Moham- madan law and the Code Napol4on has been drawn up, which seems thoroughly suited to the needs of the position; and the best results may be looked for from this reform. It were greatly to be desired that the jurisdiction of these courts should be extended so as eventually to supersede the old native system. At present they only take the place of the consular courts. In recent times the khedive has annexed a large territory to the south of Khartoom. now extending about as far as Gondokoro, and which will doubtless shortly include the lakes of Victoria and Albert Nyanza. The expedition was at first commanded by Sir Samuel Baker, with very unsatisfactory results ; and great relief was felt when the continuation of the work of conquest was intrusted to Colonel Gordon, an officer in whose character and ability the fullest confidence is placed. The khedive has professed himself anxious to put down the Nile slave-trade, and that he is really desirous of seeing the traffic ended is shown by the full powers he has given Colonel Gordon for the suppression of it in the heart of the slave-country. What the result will be it is hard to foretell ; but the good faith of the khedive and the determination of Colonel Gordon are now beyond a doubt. Quite recently (Aug, 14, 1877) a convention between the British and Egyptian Governments for the suppression of the slave-trade has been signed, imposing stringent penalties on the importa tion of slaves into Egypt, and extending the power of search in the case of suspected vessels. Altogether it may be believed that a better time ia beginning for Egypt (E.S.P. S.L.P.)] TOPOGRAPHY AND MONUMENTS. 1 The northern coast of Egypt is low and barren, present ing no features of interest, and affording no indication of the character of the country which it bounds. It is a barrier, generally of sand-hills, but sometimes of rock, for the most part wholly destitute of vegetation, except where grow a few wild and stunted date-palms. Immediately behind are desolate marshy tracts or extensive salt lakes, and beyond, the fertile country. The last is a wide plain, intersected by the two branches of the Nile, and by many canals, of which some were anciently branches of the river, and having a soil of great richness, though in this particular it is excelled by the valley above. The only inequalities of the surface are the mounds of ancient towns, and those, often if not always ancient, on which stand the modern towns and villages. The palm-trees are less numerous, and not so beautiful as in the more southern part of the country, but other trees are more common. The houses and huts of the towns and villages are of burnt brick near the Mediterranean ; but as the climate becomes drier, and the occurrence of rain far less frequent, the use of crude brick obtains, until near the point of the Delta it is very general. The mosques even of the towns are rarely remarkable for architectural beauty in the tract to the north of Cairo. The palaces or villas of the Turkish grandees, which are not uncommon, have, however, a light and picturesque appear ance, though their style is not good. The deserts which inclose the plain on both sides are rocky tracts of very slight elevation, having their surface overspread with sand and other debris. Of the towns on the northern coast, the most western, Alexandria, called by the .natives El-Iskendereeyeh, is the largest and the most important. It was founded in the year B.C. 332 by Alexander the Great, who gave it the form of a Macedonian mantle (chlamys). The ancient city occupied the space between the sea and Lake Mareotis, being about four miles in its greatest length, and a little less than a mile in its greatest breadth. The island of Pharos was likewise inhabited, and was joined to the continent by the mole called the Heptastadium. The Heptastadium and the island divided the bay into two harbours. These were spacious, and although the western, anciently called Portus Eunosti, but now the Old Port, is difficult to enter, and the eastern, Magnus Portus, or the New Port, is not so deep and is less secure, they are, except Port Said, by far the best anchorages on this coast of Egypt. Alexandria, which partly occupied the site of the ancient Rhacotis, a place of little importance, naturally speedily increased in consequence, and became the emporium of the trade between Europe, Arabia, and India. After the death of Alexander the city became the capital of the Ptolemies. By the Ptolemies Alexandria was adorned with palaces and 1 The following account of the topography and monuments of Egypt is mainly based on Mr Lane s MS. &quot;Description of Egypt,&quot; which the -miter of this article used as his guide to the monuments during his residence in that country.