The commercial intercourse of the colony is mainly with the United Kingdom. The value of the trade with Great Britain and Ireland, during each of the five years 1876 to 1880, is exhibited in the subjoined table:

Among the articles of export from the Cape to Great Britain, wool is the most important, the value shipped annually constituting nearly nine-tenths of the total exports. In the five years from 1876 to 1880 the exports of wool from the Cape Colony to the United Kingdom were as follows::

Among the minor exports from the colony to Great Britain are copper ore, of the value of 301,585l. in 1880; feathers, chiefly ostrich, of the value of 958,2547.; and sheepskins, of the value of 238,1027. in 1880. The imports of British produce into the colony comprise mainly apparel and haberdashery, of the value of 1,014,430%; cotton manufactures, of the value of 451,4901.; and iron, wrought and unwrought, of the value of 562,4721. in the year 1880.

There were, at the end of 1875, in the colony 692,514 head of

cattle, and 9,836,065 sheep. The sheep-farms of the colony are often of very great extent, comprising from 3,000 to 15,000 acres, and upwards: those in tillage are comparatively small. The graziers are, for the most part, proprietors of the farms which they occupy. There were lines of railway of a total length of 961 miles in the colony on January 1, 1882. The lines open for traffic at this date belonged to three systems, the Western, from Capetown to Worcester; the Midland and North-Eastern, starting from Port Elizabeth; and the Border system. There were 420 miles of other lines in course of construction at the end of June 1879.

The number of post-offices in the colony at the end of 1877 was 248, the revenue in 1877 amounting to 57,8701., and the expenditure to 151,2201.

The telegraphs in the colony comprised 3,575 miles, with 98 offices, at the end of 1879. The number of messages sent was 282,050 in 1878. The telegraphs were constructed entirely at the expense of the Government.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

MONEY.

The coins in circulation within the colony are exclusively British. All accounts are kept in pounds, shillings, and pence.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

The standard weights and measures are British, with the exception of the land measure. To some extent, however, the following old weights and measures are still made use of in the colony:

:

The general surface measure is the old Amsterdam Morgen, reckoned equal to 2 English acres, but, more exactly, 2·11654 acres. Some difference of opinion existed formerly as to the exact equivalents of the shortest land measure, the foot, but it was in 1858 officially settled that 1,000 Cape feet were equal to 1,033 British Imperial feet.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning the Cape Colony.

1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Cape of Good Hope Blue-book for 1879. Capetown, 1880.

Census of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, taken on the night of Sunday, March 7, 1875. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of the Governor. 4. Capetown, 1877.

Correspondence regarding the establishment of responsible government at the Cape of Good Hope, and the withdrawal of troops from that Colony. Presented to the House of Commons. Fol. London, 1870.

Report from Governor Sir H. Barkly, K.C.B., dated Cape Town, July 23, 1871; in Reports showing the Present State of Her Majesty's Colonial Possessions.' Part III. 8. London, 1872.

Report from Governor Sir H. Barkly, dated Cape Town, July 26, 1873, in Papers relating to Her Majesty's Colonial Possessions.' Part I. 1874. 8. London, 1874.

Statistical Abstract for the several Colonies and other Possessions of the United Kingdom. No. XVI. 8. London, 1880.

Trade of the Cape of Good Hope with the United Kingdom; in ‘Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions for the year 1879.' Imp. 4. London, 1880.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Anderson (C. J.) Notes of Travel in South Africa. Edited by L. Lloyd. 8. London, 1875.

Blore (W. L.), Statistics of the Cape Colony. Reprinted from the Argus,' 1870-71. 8. Cape Town, 1871.

'Cape

Chase (Hon. John Centlivres) and Wilmot (A.), History of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 8. London, 1870.

Chesson (F. W.), The Dutch Republics of South Africa. 8. London, 1871. Fleming (J.), Southern Africa: geography, &c. of the colonies and inhabitants. 8. London, 1856.

Fritsch (Dr. Sust.), Drei Jahre in Süd-Afrika. 8. Breslau, 1868.

Fritsch (Dr. Gust.), Die Eingeborenen Süd-Afrika's ethnographisch und anatomisch beschrieben. 4. Breslau, 1872.

Hall (H.), Manual of South African Geography. 2nd ed. 8. Capetown, 1866. Meidinger (H.), Die südafrikanischen Colonien Englands, und die Freistaaten der holländischen Boeren in ihren jetzigen Zuständen. 8. Frankfurt, 1861. Neveu (C.), République de l'Afrique méridionale, ou de Trans-Vaal-Boers. In Revue maritime et coloniale.' 8. Paris. 1872.

Pos (Nicolaas), Eene stem uit Zuid-Afrika, Mededeelingen betreffende den maatschappelijken en godsdienstigen toestand der Kaap-Kolonie. 8. Breda,

1868.

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. Trollope (Anthony), South Africa. 2 vols. 8. London, 1878. Wilmot (G.), An historical and descriptive account of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. 8. London, 1863.

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, Aug. 8, 1879. Married, Jan. 10, 1873, to Princess Emineh, daughter of El Hamy Pasha. Offspring of the union are two sons, Abbas, born July 14, 1874, and Mehemet Ali, born in 1876.

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-Shériff 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 charged by an Imperial firman of May 21, 1866, into the Persian-Arabic of Khidiv-el-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 last firman, issued June 8, 1873, the Sultan granted to Ismail I. the hitherto withheld rights of concluding 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 150,000l.; his father of 50,0007., with 70,000l. more for other members of the family.

Government, Revenue, and Army.

The administration of Egypt is carried on at present under the supervision of the governments of France and Great Britain, represented each by a Controller-General,' invested with great powers,

indicated as follows in a decree of the Khedive in seven articles, issued November 10, 1879:

'Art. 1. The Controllers-General have full powers of investigation into every public service of the State, including that of the Public Debt. Ministers and all public officials of every rank are bound to furnish the Controllers, or their agents, with all documents they may think fit to require. The Minister of Finance is bound to furnish them weekly with a statement of receipts and expenditure. Other administrations must furnish the same every month.

'Art. 2. The Controllers-General can only be removed from their posts by their own Governments.

'Art. 3. The Governments of England and France having agreed that, for the moment, the Controllers-General will not take the actual direction of the public service, their duties are limited at present to inquiry, control, and surveillance.

Art. 4. The Controllers-General take the rank of Ministers, and will always have the right to assist and speak at the meetings of the Council of Ministers, but without the power to vote.

Art. 5. When they deem it necessary the Controllers may unite with the Commissioners of Public Debt to take such measures as they may deem fit.

Art. 6. Whenever they may deem it useful, and at least once a year, the Controllers will draw up a report on all questions for the Khedive and his Ministers.

'Art. 7. The Controllers have the power of naming and dismissing all officials whose assistance is of no use to them. They shall prepare a budget; and monthly statements of all salaries and all resources shall be rendered to them.'

By another decree of the Khedive, dated April 5, 1880, there was appointed an 'International Commission of Liquidation,' composed of seven members, with functions defined as follows:-After examining the whole financial situation of Egypt, the Committee will draught a Law of Liquidation regulating the relations between Egypt and her creditors, and also between the Daira Sanieh and the Daira Khassa and their creditors. The conditions of the issue of the Domain Loan are excluded from the deliberations of the Committee. The Committee will work upon the basis furnished by the report of the Committee of Inquiry, and will sit for three months after the presentation of their own report, in order to watch, in concert with the English and French Controllers-General, the execution of the decìsions arrived at. The Law of Liquidation will be binding upon all parties concerned. Representatives of the International Tribunals and a Delegate from the Egyptian Government will attend the sittings of the Committee. The preamble of the decree stated that England, France, Germany, Austria, and Italy, had already declared their acceptance of the Law of Liquidation, and will collectively