The subjoined statement shows the total value of the exports from Egypt to Great Britain and Ireland, and of the imports of British produce and manufactures into Egypt, in each of the five years from 1879 to 1883, according to the Board of Trade Returns :

The exports of raw cotton from Egypt to Great Britain in 1882 were 1,334,090 cwt., valued at 5,034,7851.; and in 1883, 1,523,975 cwt., valued at 5,976,6741.

Next to cotton the largest article of export from Egypt to the United Kingdom in the year 1883 was grain and flour, of the value of 1,577,9701., comprising wheat, valued at 520,3647.; beans, 1,001,0537.; barley, 29,1261.; and flour and maize, 27,4271.

The staple article of import from the United Kingdom into Egypt consists of cotton goods, of the value of 4,290,9537. in 1872, of 1,751,9897. in 1881, and of 1,300,6147. in 1882, and 1,861,6017. in 1883. Also coal, of the value of 507,6791., machinery 121,412.,. and iron 130,4361. in 1883.

Railways and Telegraphs.

On Jan. 1, 1884, Egypt had a railway system of a total singleline length of 1,276 miles. The train mileage for the year 1883 was 2,548,535, and the cost of maintenance per train mile was about 11d. The average proportion of the working expenses to receipts from 1880 to 1883 was 36 per cent.

The telegraphs belonging to the Egyptian Government were, at the end of 1884, of a total length of 2,767 miles, the length of wire being 5,283 miles. This includes a line of 75 miles constructed during 1884 in the province of Fayoum. The Eastern Telegraph Company have a line to Cairo 455 miles in length.

The Egyptian Post Office carried 5,841,000 inland and 3,746,000 foreign letters during the year 1883, being an average increase of 19 per cent. on 1882. The number of post offices at the end of 1884 was 172.

The Suez Canal.

The Suez Canal is 100 miles long, connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, opened for navigation November 17, 1869. The state of the capital account was as follows in 1883:—

396,845 shares of 500 francs, or 201.
297,885 obligations of 500 francs, or 201. each, issued at
127., bearing interest at 5 per cent., on par, and re-
deemable at par.

76,007 delegations of 500 francs each, bearing interest at
5 per cent.

96,719 thirty-year bonds of 125 franes, at 8 francs per
annum interest

23,841 bonds of 500 francs at 3 per cent. (less unpaid)
399,518 bons de coupons,' or bonds of 31. 8s. each, bear-
ing interest at 5 per cent., issued for the consolidation
of unpaid coupons on shares, redeemable at par, which
commenced November 1882

£

7,936,900

5,957,700

1,520,140

483,595

462,607

1,358,361

Besides 100,000 founders' shares, with right to participate in surplus profit under certain conditions. In 1883 the founders' share of surplus profits was 143,4547.

Of the above 396,845 shares, 176,602 belonged formerly to the Khedive of Egypt, and were purchased from him by the British Government in November 1875 for the sum of 3,976,5821. But the Khedive, by a convention passed in 1869 between himself and the Suez Canal Company, for the settlement of disputed claims and accounts, had alienated all dividends on his 176,602 shares up to 1894, and placed them at the disposal of the company. Against these dividends the company issued 120,000 Délégations,' which are entitled to all sums accruing on the above 176,602 shares up to 1894; the dividends which the 'Délégations' receive are, however, lessened by an annual sum laid aside to provide a sinking fund, sufficient to extinguish them all by the end of the year 1894.

The statutes of the Suez Canal Company provide that all net earnings in excess of the 5 per cent. interest on the shares shall be divided as follows:

1. 15 per cent. to the Egyptian Government.

to the founders' shares.

to form an invalid fund for the employés of the company. as dividend on the 400,000 shares.

to the Managing Directors.

The number and gross tonnage of vessels that have passed througu the Suez Canal and the gross receipts of the Company have been as follows in 1873 and in 1880–83 :

:

The net profits in 1883 were 1,434,5407., and the total dividend paid to the shareholders, after placing 5 per cent. to the sinking fund, according to the statutes, amounted to 17.33 per cent. for the year 1883.

The following table shows the number and gross tonnage of vessels of the leading nationalities that passed through the Canal in 1883:

British Diplomatic Agent and Consul-General.—Sir Evelyn Baring, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., appointed May 1883.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures of Egypt are :—

The currency of Egypt being insufficient for its vast commerce, coins of nearly all the nations of Europe, as well as of the United States, have become legal tender. Those most in use are French twenty-franc gold pieces and British sovereigns.'

A reformation of the Egyptian currency is in contemplation (January 1885).

By a decree of the former Khedive dated August 1, 1875, the metrical system of weights and measures was ordered to be introduced into Egypt on the 1st of January, 1876, but compulsory only at first in all public and administrative transactions.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Egypt.

1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Le Commerce Extérieur de l'Egypte pendant l'Année 1883. Alexandria,

1884.

1881.

Statistique de l'Egypte. Par E. de Régny-Bey. Année 1880. Le Caire, Correspondence respecting the State Domains of Egypt. London, 1883. Correspondence respecting the reorganisation of Egypt. London, 1883. Correspondence respecting the Mixed Courts and judical reforms in Egypt. London, 1884.

Correspondence respecting the finances of Egypt. London, 1884.

Report on the financial situation of Egypt, dated June 28, 1884. London,

1884.

Despatch from Lord Dufferin forwarding the decree constituting the new political institutions of Egypt. London, 1883.

Ministère des Travaux Publics. Compte Rendu des Exercices 1881-2 Cairo, 1884.

Budget provisoire pour 1885. Cairo, 1884.

Le Système monétaire en Egypte. Cairo, 1884.

Reports by Mr. Villiers Stuart, M.P., respecting reorganisation of Egypt. London, 1883.

Report on the Egyptian Provinces of the Soudan, Red Sea, and Equator. Compiled in the Intelligence Branch of the Quartermaster-General's Department, Horse Guards, War Office. London, 1884.

Report on the Soudan, by Lieut.-Colonel Stewart. London, 1883.

Reports by Consular Assistant Beaman on the foreign trade of Egypt in 1880, in Part II., and by Mr. Consul Cookson on the trade and commerce of Alexandria for 1881 in Part XIII. of Reports of H.M.'s Consuls, 1882.

Report by Consul West on the trade and commerce of Suez for 1881-82, and by Consul Cookson on Alexandria, 1882; in Reports of H.M.'s Consuls.' Part X. London, 1883.

Suez Canal, Returns of shipping and tonnage, 1869-83. London, 1884. Suez Canal, Report by the British directors on the provisional agreement with M. De Lesseps. London, 1883.

Trade of Egypt with Great Britain; in 'Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions for the year 1883.' Imp. 4. London, 1884.