they are about to demolish. Under these circumstances, though the present aspect is encouraging, the conviction that its prosperity depends upon a combination of external powers, with rival and selfish ends in view, seriously detracts from what would otherwise be a most hopeful prospect for the future. This, indeed, is believed, that the unfortunate people will just have tasted enough of relief from oppression and of material prosperity, to make the relapse into the general chaos, which must ensue upon the dismemberment of Turkey, doubly painful to them; and they will find their suspicion and distress of the future, and the sort of instinct which prevails that the present state of things is too good to last, well founded. Meantime they seem to believe in "making hay while the sun shines." Every man has already learnt exactly how much his annual tax amounts to, and refuses to be squeezed out of a piastre more. The old officials, who used to line their pockets out of extortions from the peasantry, under pretext of collecting taxes, which varied with the squeezability of the tax-payer, can do so no longer without discovery; for the peasant has learnt from experience, to his astonishment, that appeal to the proper quarter secures protection and redress. A consciousness which is, on the other hand, apt to produce a reaction, and make him insubordinate and untractable in matters where he has certain duties to perform, and to which he was compelled in old days by a free use of the kurbash.

In a country dependent for its prosperity upon its irrigation system being kept in good repair, it is evident that every human being is personally interested in the state of the sluices and irrigating canals; and from the earliest

times the times the population were compelled to contribute their labour gratuitously for their up-keep, just as in the United States every farm in the country is compelled to contribute its quota of labour, without payment, to the maintenance of the roads. The same system has always prevailed in Egypt; and the canals were kept up by a corvée of the inhabitants, who endeavoured, by every means in their power, to evade it, and were only compelled to obedience by the liberal use of the stick. Now, however, the use of the stick or kurbash is abolished, but the men are none the less expected to keep the irrigation works in repair by gratuitous labour. In some mudirates the peasantry are compelled to work thus without payment on the dikes and canals for six months in the year, in others for one hundred and twenty days. Nor can they exempt themselves by payment, as even, if the money were forthcoming, it would not be possible to find the requisite amount of labour. In addition to this, the men are often obliged to work at a distance of one or two days' journey from their homes, thus involving them in considerable extra expense, to escape which they not unfrequently bribe the minor employee. Indeed, although legally they cannot buy exemption, in practice it is not so very difficult; for money, skilfully applied, generally provides a means of escape from most dilemmas. It is evident that no people in the world will willingly stand being forced to work six months of the year without pay; and now that they are no longer bastinadoed into it, they are getting difficult to manage, and the canals are suffering in consequence. The simple and manifest solution of the difficulty would be to clean them by machinery. There is something at once grotesque and pathetic in this nineteenth century

in the sight of five thousand men, almost entirely naked, standing waist deep in the soft mud, and scooping it out with no better instrument than their hands. One can scarcely conceive a more disagreeable operation, though it reminds one how little the habits of the people are changed since those ancient times when the huge monuments, which at this day challenge our admiration, were created by the application of physical force upon a vast scale. By the introduction of dredgers this great multitude might be largely released, and enabled to devote themselves to the culture of their own lands. At the same time, the maintenance of dikes and other irrigation works would always render a certain amount of forced labour necessary; and though it is repugnant to our feelings to force them to work by beating them, still, as their own salvation depends npon their fulfilling this duty, it is a question how far this sentiment should prevail in a matter of such vital interest to the country, among a population who have always been accustomed to this mode of coercion, and who feel no disgrace attaching to it. A curious illustration of this came under my notice while staying with a friend who was engaged in keeping the canals in good repair. A man who had persistently evaded his duties, seemed to be pricked by his conscience, and voluntarily came to him one day, and said that he was prepared to go to work on the canal, but that he could not do so without being compelled. He had never in his life worked on a canal until he had been beaten, and there was apparently something repugnant to his feelings in going to work upon one, even for pay, voluntarily; he therefore requested that a hundred blows of the kurbash should be

VOL. CXXX.-NO. DCCXC.

administered to him upon the soles of his feet. My friend reluctantly acceded to his request, thereby breaking the law; but the man received the required stimulus without a groan, and went to his work in a peaceful and contented frame of mind, as one who had relieved his conscience of a heavy load. One could scarcely require a stronger proof of the extent to which a population may be dénaturée by a long course of oppression than this instance, which is perfectly authentic, furnishes.

From the illustration I have given of the value of the kurbash it will be seen that it has too strong a hold upon the people to be readily abandoned; and indeed, although it is nominally prohibited by law, its use is largely resorted to, sub rosa, by the native minor officials, more especially in the detection of crime. On one occasion, alighting from the train at a small town where I was going to spend a few days, I observed five prisoners, heavily chained by the neck and arms, being escorted by a guard of soldiers out of one of the rear carriages. The leading man was a negro, with by no means a bad cast of countenance, who was smiling defiantly at the crowd which had assembled to see them pass. The others followed his example in a display of contempt and indifference to their position, and some of them were truculent-looking fellows enough. On inquiring as to their crime, I was informed that a few days before they had burglariously entered the house of a small Greek trader in the town, whom they had fired at and severely wounded, decamping with a considerable sum of money, shooting and killing on their way a policeman who attempted to interfere. It was suspected that they formed part of a large band who were credited with

P

Of

about half a million of acres. thest, 200,000 lie in a strip extendmg for eignty miles along the banks of the Nis to a point about twenty miles above Miiei: 50.000 are sinater above Luxor: 76,000 are 11 the Fatoun: and the rest in Lower Lempt in this and there are 175 mies of agricultura rai war, the bant, roing STOCL L appurte nances of v met are valec at about & million stering There are nine sugay-min operation and turee I ill working order but the latter are corector want of a sufficient su 1 of sane These mis are valued at abom £200 Doi & Diese, and there OI WL.C non finished. far the mi dng materia for I I 1224 besge the Lere are ama" cotton mi...

a series of burglaries and other acts of violence in the neighbourhood. They had been arrested owing to a curious train of circumstances too long to recount, but I was anxious to follow them to the office of the vakil in order to hear them cross-examined. I was requested, however, to refrain from doing so, as the authorities would have hesitated to apply the kurbash in my presence; and without it, it would be impossible to discover the names and hiding-places of their accomplices, one of whom had been actually guilty of the murder. I was therefore obliged to content myself with receiving an accurate report of what passed from one who was present. He told me that the black man, who was one of the ringleaders, and had been a slave, received a hundred blows of the kurbash, bellowing loudly during the whole of the process, before he announced himself willing to confess. When he did so, his revelations were most important. All his comrades were similarly treated one receiving in silence and in perfect indifference 1500 blows of the kurbash without confessing. The executioner told my informant that the man's feet were so hard he felt as if he was beating iron. He was then put to various kinds of torture, but remained obdurate to the end. As a result of what was discovered, however, all the remaining members of the band, numbering in all twenty-two, were arrested, and six murders, accompanied by assassination, were confessed with all their details, besides numerous minor offences. The fear of the peasantry, and their reluctance to testify in cases where the band is powerful and influential by virtue of its connection by blood with a large district of country, would have rendered it impossible to bring this gang of malefactors to justice without resorting to these severe meas

ures.

In the case in question, one girl proved an exception to this rule, and showed as much courage in giving her evidence as nerve and presence of mind at the time of the burglary. It seems that the black slave came to her as she lay bound on the ground for the purpose of cutting her throat, on which she said, "If you want to cut my throat in order to get my bracelets and earrings, here they are, and welcome. I only gave two piastres for the bracelets, and one for the earrings," and she took them off and threw them to him; on which the chief of the band, picking them up, threw them back to her with the remark, "We don't want your false rubbish,' and called off his black comrade. They were really solid gold, and the clever wench saved her life and her jewels by her ready wit. Not uncommonly the police are in league with the robbers; and this must have been the case in this instance, for out of 110 town guardians, only two were proved to have been on duty on the night of the occurrence, and of these one was shot. Hence there was no possibility of instituting a pursuit at the time.

It is an unfortunate fact that the common people seem to get demoralised in proportion as they are brought in contact with foreigners. Thus the servants in the large towns, and the Nile boatmen, are among the most dishonest classes in the population. An instance of the moral code prevalent among the latter came under my notice one day, lying wind-bound moored to a sandy islet in the river. A large dahabeeya, laden with grain, came and moored alongside, and I observed the crew busy apparently throwing the grain in the a'r to clean it. Upon my inquiring why they chose the time and place for this cperation, I was informed that the boat was consigned to some