Cape of Good Hope General Directory and Guide-book, 1886. Cape Town, 1886. Chesson (F. W.), The Dutch Republics of South Africa. 8. London, 1871. Fritsch (Dr. Gust.), Die Eingeborenen Süd-Afrika's ethnographisch und anatomisch beschrieben. 4. Breslau, 1872. Froude (J. A.), Oceana. London, 1886. Greswell (W.), Our South African Empire. 2 vols. London, 1885. Hall (H.), Manual of South African Geography. 2nd ed. 8. Cape Town, 1866. Holub (Dr. Emil), Seven Years in South Africa. London, 1881. Johnston (Keith), Africa. London, 1878. Meidinger (H.), Die südafrikanischen Colonien Englands, und die Freistaaten. der holländischen Boeren in ihren jetzigen Zuständen. 8. Frankfurt, 1861. Noble (John), South Africa, Past and Present. Cape Town, 1878. Noble (John), The Cape and South Africa. Cape Town, 1878. Silver (S. W.), Handbook to South Africa, including the Cape Colony, Natal, the Diamond Fields, &c. 8. London, 1880. Silver (S. W.), Handbook to the Transvaal. 8. London, 1877. Statham (F. R.), Blacks, Boers, and British. London, 1881. Theal (G. M.), South African History and Geography. London, 1878. Wilmot (G.), An historical and descriptive account of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 8. London, 1863. CONGO FREE STATE. THE Congo Free State was constituted and defined by the General Act of the International Congo Conference, signed at Berlin February 26, 1885, by which it was declared neutral and free to the trade of all nations, in conjunction with the rest of the basin of the River Congo. The Powers reserve to themselves, until the end of a period of twenty years, the right of deciding if freedom of entry shall be maintained or not. The navigation of the Congo is placed under the care of an International Commission representing all the Powers signing the act. By vote of the Belgian legislature, April 28 and 30, the Congo Free State was placed under the sovereignty of King Leopold II., individually, the Belgian government and Belgium as a state having no power or responsibility in relation to the Congo State. The precise boundaries of the Free State were defined by Convention between the International Association of the Congo and Germany, November 8, 1884; Great Britain, December 16, 1884; the Netherlands, December 27, 1884; France, February 5, 1885. and Portugal, February 14, 1885. The state includes a small section on the north bank of the river from its mouth to Manyanga: French territory intervening between this last station and the mouth of the Likona, whence the state extends northwards to 4° N. lat, eastwards to 30° E. long., southwards to Lake Bangweolo (12° S.), westwards to 24° E., northwards to 6° S., then westwards to the S. bank at Nokki. By Mr. H. M. Stanley the area of the Free State is estimated at 1,056,200 square miles, with a population of 27,000,000. The budget of expenditure of the Free State is estimated at 70,000.; the revenue is derived from a subsidy granted by the King of the Belgians. In January, 1886 it was sought to raise a lottery loan of 4,000,000l., in lots of 20 francs, not bearing interest, to be reimbursed by annual drawings for 20 years. The principal articles for export are stated to be palm-oil, rubber, ivory, orchilla weed, gum copal, ground nuts, cam-wood. The chief imports are textiles, guns, powder, spirits, tobacco. Administrating Committee of the Free State.-Lieut. Valcke, and A. Parmenter (December 1886). Under the governor are a large number of white subordinates, chiefs of provinces which extend as far as Bangala, and other officials. There are four administrative divisions or provincesthe Lower Congo, Livingstone Falls and the Pool, the district between the Pool and the Equator, the Upper Congo. In Dec. 1886 there were only the following stations occupied: Banana, Boma, Matadi, Lukunga, Leopoldville, and Bangala. The Central Government at Brussels consists of the King of the Belgians, and three heads of departments, Foreign Affairs and Justice, Finance, and the Interior. There is an armed force of 2,000 native Africans. Books of Reference concerning the Congo State. 1. OFFICIAL. Convention between Her Majesty and the King of the Belgians in the name of the International Association of the Congo. London, 1885. Correspondence with Her Majesty's Ambassador at Berlin respecting West African Conference. London, 1885. Protocols and General Act of the West African Conference. London, 1885. 2. UNOFFICIAL. Le Mouvement Géographique. Brussels, 1885-86. · Report on the Congo Country, by Mr. W. P. Tisdel, in Reports of Consuls of the United States. Nos. 54 and 55. Washington, 1885. Stanley (H. M.), The Congo and the Founding of its Free State. 2 vols. London, 1885. Stanley (H. M.), Through the Dark Continent. 2 vols. London, 1878. Wauters (A. J.), Le Congo. Brussels, 1885. EGYPT. (KEMI.-MISR.) Reigning Khedive. Mohamed Tewfik, born Nov. 19, 1852; the son of Ismail I.; succeeded to the throne, on the abdication of his father, June 26, 1879. Married, Jan. 18, 1873, to Princess Emineh, daughter of El Homу Pasha. Offspring of the union are two sons, Abbas, born July 14, 1874, and Mehemet Ali, born in 1876, and two daughters, KhadigehHanem, born in 1879, and Naemet-Hanem, born in 1881. The present sovereign of Egypt is the sixth ruler of the dynasty of Mehemet Ali, appointed Governor of Egypt in 1806, who made himself, in 1811, absolute master of the country by force of arms. The position of his father and predecessor, Ismail I.-forced to abdicate, under pressure of the British and French governments, in 1879-was recognised by the Imperial Hatti-Sheriff of February 13, 1841, issued under the guarantee of the five great European Powers, which established the hereditary succession to the throne of Egypt, under the same rules and regulations as those to the throne of Turkey. The title given to Mehemet Ali and his immediate successors was the Turkish one of ' Vali,' or Viceroy; but this was changed by an Imperial firman of May 21, 1866, into the Persian-Arabic of Khidêwi-Misr,' or King of Egypt, or, as more commonly called, Khedive. By the same firman of May 27, 1866, obtained on the condition of the sovereign of Egypt raising his annual tribute to the Sultan's civil list from 376,000l. to 720,000l., the succession to the throne of Egypt was made direct, from father to son, instead of descending, after the Turkish law, to the eldest heir. By a firman issued June 8, 1873, the Sultan granted to Ismail I. the hitherto withheld rights of concluding commercial treaties with foreign powers, and of maintaining armies. The predecessors of the present ruler of Egypt were— The present Khedive of Egypt has an annual allowance of 100,000l.; his father of 40,000l., with 175,000l. more for other indirect members of the family. Constitution, Government, and Army. The administration of Egypt is now (January 1887), carried on by native Ministers, subject to the ruling of the Khedive, and under the supervision of England. From 1879 to 1883 two Controllers-General, appointed by France and England, had considerable powers in the direction of the affairs of the country (Khedivial Decree, November 10, 1879). In the summer of 1882, in consequence of a military rebellion-the object of which was supposed to be the abolition by violent means of the Control, and the removal of foreigners generally from positions of influence held by them in Egypt-England intervened, subdued the rising, and restored the authority of the Khedive. In this intervention England was not joined by France, and as a result, on January 18, 1883, the Khedive signed a Decree abolishing the joint control of England and France. In the place of the Control the Khedive, on the recommendation of England, appointed a single European financial adviser, with a consultative voice in the Council of Ministers, and with no power to interfere in matters of internal administration. The Egyptian Ministry is at present composed of five members, among whom the departmental work is distributed as follows:-1, President Foreign Affairs and Justice; 2, Finance; 3, War, Marine, and Interior; 4, Public Works; 5, Education. On May 1, 1884, an Organic Law was promulgated by the Khedive creating a number of representative institutions, based on universal suffrage, to carry on eventually the government of the country in a constitutional manner. These institutions included Provincial Boards, a Legislative Council, and a General Assembly. The Legislative Council is the only institution which works at present (January 1887). It is composed of 30 members, 16 of whom are elected and 14 appointed by the Khedive. All general laws have to be submitted to this Council, but the government is not obliged to act on its advice. Egypt Proper is administratively divided into 8 governorships of principal towns, and 14 moudiriehs, or provinces. The governors and the moudirs possess very extensive powers. The moudiriehs are divided into kisms, governed by mamours. Subsequent to 1882 a body of gendarmerie was formed for the provinces, and a corps of police for the towns of Alexandria and Cairo. On January 1, 1884, a new organisation of police came into force, placing both them and the gaols-hitherto in the hands of the moudirs-under the control of two Directors-General attached to the Ministry of the Interior. Also at the end of February 1884 |