aroundworldortra00peebiala-1

274 AROUND THE WORLD.
and gardens, all arranged in the highest style of Oriental
elegance. He was educated in Paris. The clear complexion
and light blonde hair, that he inherited from his Circassian
mother, give him more the appearance of an Anglo-Saxon
than an Oriental. He is of medium height, stately in gait,
with a full forehead, gray eyes, and shrewd expression of
countenance.
He is immensely rich, virtually holding the land of Egypt
in fee simple ; his subjects working it on his terms. The
proceeds fill his purse too, rather than the pockets of the
fellahs. Irrigation-canals are bringing a vast amount of barren
land under cultivation ;
four thousand miles of telegraph
stretch from the Delta over the Nile Valley in every direction
; and surveys have been made for the purpose of rendering
the Nile navigable its whole course. There will be, within
a few years, a continuous line of railway from Alexandria to
Khartoum, near the site of the ancient Meroe at the junction
of the Blue and White Nile, a distance of fifteen hundred
miles. Ere long the confines of Egypt will be extended over
Darfour, Abyssinia, and the Soudan, to the Mountains of the
Moon, — countries burdened with heavy forests, and abounding
in medicinal plants, in gold, silver, iron, and copper, in
cotton, rice, and other productions of great commercial value.
It is said by the Khedive's ardent admirers that wherever he
pushes his conquests he abolishes the slave-trade. This is
seriously doubted. Domestic slavery, and polygamy, are
common in most Mohammedan countries.
THE CENTRAL AFRICANS AS THEY ARE.
English scientists sitting in their cozy homes, consulting
the reports of sea-captains, slave-buyers, and the tales of
ivory-dealers, write glibly of Africa, and the degraded African
tribes. Opinions derived from such sources are utterlj''
worthless, as compared 'with the testimonies of Sir Samuel
Baker, Prof. Blyd^n of Liberia, Dr.
distinguished men, long residents in Africa.
says,—
Livingstone, and other
Dr. Livingstone