instance individuals may suffer, and a most mistaken policy to impose rack-rents for the purpose of keeping money-lenders at a distance. We will even go so far as to say it will be for the general benefit if pauper cultivators who have not sufficient agricultural capital of their own to be able to stand on their own feet without resort to money-lenders for ordinary agricultural operations should cease to try to hold the position of landholders, and sink to that of day-labourers. In nature, there is one head to a pair of hands. To prevent the sale and mortgage of lands, subject, of course, to the right of the State to levy rent from them, would be a bar to the advancement of the solvent landholder for want of temporary accommodation, and the bettering of the general status of the community by the accumulation in the hands of capitalists of lands which such men only, and not pauper rayats, could develop to the public good. Such a proceeding as that of Lord Cornwallis in benefiting capitalists and superior holders without due regard to the rights of the actual holders of the soil was, of course, a grievous wrong; but this can never be repeated, and the wrong caused has, at all events, been mitigated by recent legislation. Yet none will deny that good has to some extent arisen from it in providing capital for the improvement of the soil. Rack-renting for the future being thus prevented, and the enjoyment of his own by the rayat being secured, it is an unpardonable fault in the State to pursue, however unwittingly, the opposite policy in the case of lands paying revenue directly to the State, as in the rayatvári districts of Madras and Bombay. The result of so doing in the former Presidency has been lately shown in a letter to the journal called India, the organ of the Parliamentary Committee of the National Indian Congress, from which we quote the following state

ments:

"There are over 6,000,000 acres of arable assessed land lying waste, notwithstanding the existence of a superabundant agricultural population quite sufficient and willing to take it up. The reason of this is over or uneven assessment of the land to the public revenue. . . . The result of such over or uneven assessment is that the land revenue is collected ONLY [this may be modified by saying 'partially'] by the aid of numerous evictions, amounting to many thousands annually, of rayats from their lands, the right to cultivate which is put up to sale by auction, often together with the personal property of the defaulters, for the realization of the revenue, and a large proportion of the land has to be bought in by Government at nominal prices for want of bidders."

Can there be a doubt that this state of affairs is due to the rack-renting of the land? A further quotation from the same letter, all the statistics contained in which are to be found in the official annual settlement reports, affords a complete confirmation of the state of affairs depicted:

"By the returns of 1896-97, there are in the whole Presidency less than 700 holdings (really 690) of over 1,000 rupees, and out of 3,170,094 tenants 2,110,600 had holdings o under 10 rupees a year. In 1889-90 there were 428 of the former, and 1,870,694 of the latter, so that in seven years, while substantial tenants have increased by only 272, the comparatively poor ones are more by 285,611.”

In Bombay, on the other hand, where, in assessing rayatvári land, a margin of profit is knowingly left in the hands of the holders in order to give the land a marketable value, it is difficult to find any that is arable uncultivated.

Enough has been said to show the different results of fair assessment and rack-renting. There are not wanting other innumerable arguments in favour of the former policy. These it would be an insult to the commonsense of the readers of this review to elaborate further.

A. ROGERS.

THE SOUDAN.

It is expected that the railway to Khartum will be opened between September 1 and 15 next, when trade will be opened without restrictions. Foreign goods will be free, except a small fee at Wady Halfa. A tax of 20 per cent. to the Soudan Government will be levied upon the products of the country, such as gum, ivory, and feathers. The railway-rates will be based on those of Egypt, with a small increase, in consequence of the heavier cost of coal. Europeans will be free to acquire land, and a registry-office is to be established. Legislation will proceed by proclamations. The state of the public finances is satisfactory, and health is improving.

ENGLAND, RUSSIA, AND CHINA.

The agreement between England and Russia with regard to their respective railway interests in China is as follows: (1) England engages not to seek for her own account, or on behalf of British subjects, or of others, any railway concessions to the north of the Great Wall of China, and not to obstruct, directly or indirectly, applications for railway concessions in that region supported by the Russian Government. (2) Russia engages to observe the same conditions with respect to the basin of the Yang-tsze—that is, the provinces adjoining the Yang-tsze River, and Ho-nan and Che-kiang, which comprise nearly half, and much the best half, of the eighteen provinces, with an area of something like half a million square miles. The sovereign rights of China are preserved, and the object of the agreement is to avoid complications, to consolidate peace in the Far East, and to serve the primordial interests of China.

EGYPTIAN FINANCE, ADMINISTRATION, AND PROGRESS. The report of Lord Cromer on the condition of Egypt recently presented to Parliament is exhaustive and important. The actual revenue for the year 1897 was £E11,092,000 (the Egyptian pound is equal to £1 os. 6d.), and the expenditure £E10,659,000. The railway receipts are rapidly increasing; they amounted to £E1,938,000, being an excess over the previous year of £E162,000. The number of passengers was 10,742,000, as compared with 9,854,000. The working expenses amount to about 43 per cent. of the gross receipts. New agricultural roads to the amount of 238 kilometres have been constructed, at a cost of LE23,500. Telegraph wires have been extended, and new post offices and stations opened. The construction of the Nile reservoir is proceeding, and it is estimated to cost at least £2,000,000. The total pópulation, exclusive of Suakim and Dongola Province, is 9,734,000, being an

1

increase during the past fifteen years of 43 per cent. They consist of 8,979,000 Moslems, 730,000 Christians, and 25,000 Jews. The Christians consist of 608,000 Copts, 54,000 Orthodox, 56,000 Roman Catholics, 12,000 Protestants. The whole population may be divided into 9,622,000 Egyptians, and 112,000 foreigners, the latter consisting chiefly of Greeks, Italians, English, and French. Of the British subjects there are 6,463 Maltese, and 614 British Indians. The interest taken in education is increasing. The number of pupils in the Government schools during the last ten years has increased from 2,000 to over 11,000, of whom 51 per cent. learn English, and 49 per cent. French. The percentage in the former is gradually increasing, while that of the latter is diminishing. Lord Cromer considers that the régime during the past fifteen years, though still defective, but being amended gradually, "has conferred, and is still conferring, the utmost benefit on the Egyptians, and on all who are concerned in the welfare of Egypt."

PERSIA.

An esteemed correspondent in Persia writes:

"French intrigues have been going on in the Persian Gulf for a long time, but the British authorities seem to have become aware of them only quite lately in connection with Muskat. England has spent many millions sterling, and thousands of lives, in order to suppress piracy and slavery, and open the Gulf to free and unhampered international commerce, and as no other nation has taken a share of the work and expense, any interference should not be tolerated."

REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND Co.; LONDON.

1. The Chronology of India, by C. MABEL DUFF (Mrs. W. R. Rickmers). --The aim of this work is to give the chronology of India from the earliest times to the beginning of the sixteenth century; but the authoress more than fulfils the promise of her title-page. She gives us not only a chronology," but at the same time also what might be termed a chronological history. For, from the beginning to the end the book is crammed, not with dates merely, but also with facts consecutively arranged,—the leading and salient facts of the periods as they follow on. To give an account of the contents of the work would require more space than we have at our disposal. It may suffice to say that it will be found invaluable to all students of Indian history and antiquities; while to compilers of works of a historical nature relating to the tribes and races of India it will be indispensable.

The index extends to nearly a hundred pages, and besides including references to the almost endless personal and place-names which occur in the book, includes also references to events. This renders this part of the work most important. There is also a long appendix, and several tables setting forth the various dynasties in their order. The principle on which it is constructed is well explained in the preface. The amount of learning compressed into the work is incredible; and the time and labour which so much patient research must have cost no reader of the book will ever be able to understand. As regards the press-work, it is admirably executed. The authoress has been at pains to mark the long vowels. This is most helpful, as it guards the reader, at every step from the beginning, from that mispronunciation so characteristic of English people in their attempts at vocalizing Oriental words, and which so often excites the risibility of the humorous Hindú. All that is needed in this feature of the work is to indicate the accent of words, as well as the length of vowels; for the accent in Indian words does not by any means invariably fall upon the long vowels. There are many instances, however, in which this point of detail in the work is, to the disadvantage of the reader, overlooked. The point is one of great importance, and it is very helpful when it is carefully attended to.

We note, also, that nothing is said regarding the various ingenious methods of harmonizing the dates of different systems of chronology. The dates A.D. and A.H. and the dates of events in the different eras of the Hindús, for instance, are given; but what the reader needs to know is how the correspondence between any given Hindú or Muhammadan date and any given English (or "Christian") date is arrived at. The whole explanation would not have occupied more than a page or two of the preface, and it would have been of much use to the reader as a key to the whole work, the practical value of which would thus have been greatly enhanced. Perhaps in a later edition this may be attended to, and the permanency of the work will in this way be secured. Several attempts,

more or less voluminous, have been made to bring the subject of the chronology of the Hindús out from its obscurity, but the present work brings the study "up to date," and places it from this time forward on a higher platform. B.

2. The Rise of Portuguese Power in India, by R. S. WHITEWAY, B.C.S. (retired). In this work of some 350 pages the author gives the history of the connexion of the Portuguese with India, from 1497 to 1550. In his "Introductory" chapter he gives a condensed account of the trading in ancient times between East and West, together with a brief narrative of the origin of the Portuguese nation. He then works his way into the thrilling story of Portuguese maritime and mercantile enterprise, and then floats fairly away into his subject. The book is one of the most interesting we have for a long time met with. There is not a dry page in it. It is well planned and admirably written. The writer is, as he tells us on his titlepage, a retired officer of the Bengal Civil Service. He evidently has been taken possession of by the spirit of Oriental research-a spirit that spares no pains in ferreting out obscure details from obscure corners, and turning them to practical account by generously sharing them with all and sundry. The writer is the owner of a rapid, vivacious, and pleasing style, yet a style condensed, informing, and forceful, such as makes the reading of this book at once a pastime and a mental tonic. In his preface he says that "if the subject prove of sufficient interest, the work will be concluded with a volume on the decline of the Portuguese Power in India." There is no doubt that all who are interested in the annals of that beautiful and dreamy land will find their appetites whetted by reading this first volume, and will desire the remaining one. It is really good work; there is nothing slipshod about it; and we hope we shall see more work equally good from the same pen.

In the section devoted to the "Contents" there is a new feature (or, perhaps, we ought rather to say a revival of an old one) in the shape of a bibliographical account of the numerous works quoted in the course of the volume. This puts the reader in a position to appraise for himself the historical value of the authorities on whose writings the work is built up. They are nearly all Portuguese writers, and the work is in great measure based upon Portuguese State Papers, some of which have never yet been published. The name of the Prophet of Arabia has been variously maltreated, but we never yet saw it spelt "Muhamed." Why should not a man of Mr. Whiteway's attainments keep to the simple spelling of the Arabic? But the work is, on the whole, beautifully finished. however, here and there a want of correctness and uniformity in small details. On page 135, for instance, we have "Delhi," but "Dehli" in the map. There are, to be sure, half a dozen ways of spelling this word, but one might be sufficient for one and the same author. This will, doubtless, be put right in a future edition.

B.

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS; EDINBURGH And London. 3. In the Niger Country, by HAROLD BINDLOSS. Mr. Bindloss writes so agreeably and picturesquely that his somewhat discursive volume