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which the present Khedive rules over Egypt, a passage respecting the limits of Egypt occurs which was not in the Firman issued to the late Khedive Tawfik Pâshâ.* In the Firman to Tawfik Pâshâ the Sulțân intrusted to the Khedive "le Khédivat d'Égypte tel qu'il se trouve formé par ses anciennes limites et en comprenant les territoires qui y ont été annexés." The Firman to 'Abbâs Pâshâ states that "le Khédivat d'Égypte, avec les anciennes limites indiquées dans le Firman Impérial en date du 2 Rabi-el-Akhir, 1257, A.H., ainsi que sur la Carte annexée au dit Firman, et les territoires annexés en conformité du Firman Impérial en date du 15 Zilhidjé, 1281, A.H.," has been committed to him. On 11th April, 1892, Sir Evelyn Baring called the attention of Tigrane Pâshâ to the additional passage in the new Firman, and asked if any communication in explanation of it had been made to the Egyptian Government by the Porte. To this Tigrane Pâshâ replied on the 13th that the Sulțân had sent by telegraph an Iradé intrusting to the Khedive the administration of the Peninsula of Mount Sinai. To this Sir Evelyn Baring made answer saying that Her Britannic Majesty's Government consented to the definition of boundaries contained in the present Firman, "as supplemented, amended, and explained by the telegram of the 8th instant from H.H. the Grand Vizier, which they consider as annexed to and as forming part of the Firman, and that they entertain no objection to the official promulgation of the Firman, with the addition of the abovementioned explanatory telegram. I am to add that Her Majesty's Government cannot admit that any existing territorial rights or claims are in any degree affected by changes which have been introduced into the language of the Firman, or by their acceptance thereof." (Egypt No. 2

(1906), pp. 5 and 6).

* Dated 19th Shaʻabân, A.H. 1296.

On 20th February, 1906, two Staff Officers left Constantinople for Alexandria, and on their arrival in Cairo they lodged in the house of the Ottoman Delegate Mukhtar Pâshâ, and held no communication with any member of the Egyptian Government, or with H.M.'s Agent and Consul-General. On March 4th they suddenly left for Beyrût, whence they were to proceed to Akabah. Meanwhile Turkish troops occupied Tâbah, Al Gattar, and Marashesh, and additional troops were dispatched from Damascus and other Syrian towns to the Frontier. It became evident that the "Ottoman Government were abusing the patience of H.M.'s Government and trifling with the question at issue." The boundary between Turkey and Egypt at Rafah was marked by a tree, on each side of which was a marble pillar; about this time the pillars were pulled down and removed in the Turkish interest. The Report of the Officers who had gone to Akabah was received on April 2nd, and was found to be "eminently unsatisfactory." The Porte then referred the matter to Mukhtar Pâshâ, who boldly stated that "the Peninsula of Sinai consisted only of the territory lying south of a line drawn directly from Akabah to Suez, and the boundaries between Egypt and Turkey were lines drawn from Rafah to Suez, and from Suez to Akabah. A compromise was hinted at by Mûkhtar Pâshâ, by whose orders it is not clear, of a frontier from Râs Muḥammad to Al-'Arish." According to Mukhtar Pâshâ's contention, the Turks would have had the right to construct a strategic railway to Suez, and the effect of his compromise would have been to advance the Turkish frontier to Nakhl, and to turn the Gulf of Akabah into a mare clausum in the possession of Turkey, and into a standing menace to the security of the trade route to the East. On April 30th, the British Ambassador received instructions to inform the Ottoman Government that ten days would be given them to comply

with the British demands, failing which the situation would become grave. A fortnight later the Sulțân gave orders for the evacuation of Tâbah by Turkish troops, and accepted the demands of H.M.'s Government. (See Map on p. 404.)

SUEZ TO CAIRO.

The town of Suez (Arabic As-Suwês) contained 17,173 inhabitants in 1897, but it is probable that the number is now fewer. It stands near the site of the ancient city of Clysma, which was of considerable importance as the largest Egyptian port on the Red Sea. There is nothing of special interest in the modern town. On an artificial island is a statue of Thomas Waghorn, the pioneer of the Overland Route, which was set up by M. de Lesseps. Waghorn was born in 1800. He proved that the Overland Route was no figment of the imagination by bringing the Bombay mail of October 1st, 1845, to London two days quicker than the ordinary express mail, and he prepared plans for bringing letters from Bombay to London in twenty-one days. He died in want and misery in London. in January, 1850. The Well of Moses may be visited. by travellers who have a day to spare; it lies on the eastern side of the Gulf of Suez, seven or eight miles from Suez. Early tradition connects the neighbourhood with some of the miracles wrought by Moses the Lawgiver, and Antoninus Martyr declared that near Suez, when the tide was out, it was possible to see the remains of the wheels of Pharaoh's chariots which had, however, been turned into marble.

On the line between Suez and Cairo the following places are passed :

Ganaffa, >, a small station twenty-two miles from Suez, which takes its name from a neighbouring mountain.

Fâ'id,, a small station thirty-five miles from Suez. Nefisha,, fifty-five miles from Suez and three miles from Ismailiya. It is important only as a station belonging to the triangle by which trains to and from Cairo, and trains to and from Suez arrive at and depart from Ismailiya. At this point the Fresh Water Canal divides, one branch running into Isma'îlîya, and the other

into Suez..

Isma'iliya was founded by Isma‘îl Pâshâ in 1862, and in 1897 contained 7,200 inhabitants. It is a pretty little town, with numerous villas and gardens, and the roads, which are planted with the shady lebbek tree, are extremely well kept. The little town owes its existence to the Suez Canal, and is important as a pilot station; passengers by steamer to Europe and India formerly disembarked and embarked here, and hotels, etc., sprang into being to meet their wants. Between 1887 and 1902 many of the inhabitants suffered from fever, but now, thanks to Major Ross's system of dealing with the anopheles mosquito, the cases of fever have dropped from 2,209 in 1902 to 213 in 1903.

On leaving Nefisha the traveller enters the Wadi Tûmîlâț, which is thirty miles long; its western end opens into the tract of country now commonly identified with the Goshen of the Bible.

The first station is Abu Şûwêr, about seven miles from Nefisha, and the next is Al Maḥsamah dampall, about eighteen miles from Nefisha. Between these two places are the ruins known as Tell al-Maskhûta, ie, the Hill of the Statue,' which marks the site of the 'storecity' of Pithom, built by the Israelites for Rameses II.

The place was thus called by the Arabs because of a monolithic group in red granite, representing a king sitting between two gods. The inscriptions on the back of the

group showed that the king was Rameses II, and Dr. Lepsius, without any hesitation, identified Tell al-Maskhûta with the city of "Raamses" built by the Israelites during the oppression. This identification was generally accepted, and the place was henceforth called "Raamses" by Europeans until 1883, when the excavations which Professor Naville* made on the site proved that the Egyptian town which stood here was not Raamses at all, but Pithom, and an inscription gave the information that the district was called THUKU @ , by the Egyptians, and Succoth by the Hebrews. These discoveries were of great importance, for they showed beyond a doubt that Pithom was a town in Succoth, and that Succoth was in the neighbourhood of Goshen. Joseph said to Jacob, "And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me. . . and there will I nourish thee" (Genesis xlv, 10); and it was to Goshen that Jacob came from Canaan (Genesis xlvi, 28), and "Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew and multiplied exceedingly" (Genesis xlvii, 27). We see that the Hebrews called Thuku “ Succoth," which means "tents," not because the Egyptian name meant "tents," but because they pronounced Thuku as Suku, and this done, popular etymology supplied a Hebrew meaning. In much the same way the word MESU

† which means "child," was turned into the

proper name "Moses" (Mosheh), and this done, the Hebrew philologists connected it with a root in their own language, which means "to draw out," as Professor Naville has already remarked. In Exodus i, 11, ff, we read,

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See The Store City of Pithom, London, 2nd edition, 1903. +The name MESU glyphics. (See Ostrakon in the British Museum, No. 5631.)

has actually been found in hiero

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