EGYPT. This remarkable country is pos• sensed of very little mineral treasure. It de pends more upon the alluvial subsoil left by the Nile than upon the metal and stone found in the rocks. On the west of the Nile how ever, above the Delta, the mountain range which bounds the valley contains limestone, sandstone, slate, and quartz ; while the east ern range contains the famous granite quar ries which furnished material for the great works of the ancient Egyptians. In the mountainous region between the Nile and the Red Sea are found mines of various metals, and quarries of porphyry and other valuable stone.
The agriculture of Egypt depends on the annual inundation of the Nile. This inunda tion, occasioned by the periodical rains of Central Africa, begins in June about the sum mer solstice, and it continues to increase till September, overflowing the lowlands along its course. The Delta, or Lower Egypt, then looks like an immense marsh, interspersed with numerous islands, with villages, towns, and plantations of trees just above the water. The inundations, having remained stationary for a few days, begin to subside, and about the end of November most of the fields are left dry, and covered with a fresh layer of rich brown slime: this is the time when the lands are put under culture. From thence till the next inundation, the Delta goes through the alternatives of a delightful spring and a fiercely hot summer.
The agricultural produce of Egypt consists of the following winter plants, which are sown when the inundation has ceased, and reaped in three or four months after : wheat, barley, beans, peas, lentils, vetches, lupins, clover, flax, coleseed, lettuce, hemp, cummin, cori ander, poppy, tobacco, watermelons, and cucumbers ; and of the following summer plants, which are raised by artificial irrigation by means of:water-wheels and other machinery: doorah, Indian corn, onions, millet, henpeh, sugarcane, cotton, coffee, indigo, madder. Rice and numerous fruits are also cultivated. Mehemet Ali pensioned off the landed pro prietors, and seized the land himself ; so that the poor fellah farmers became his immediate tenants, and a wretched life they seem to have led, In regard to constructive and mechanical arts, Egypt is more distinguished for its ancient than its modern works. The wondrous pyramids, the temples, the statues, the obe lisks, the sphinxes, are among the most striking antiquities of any nation. In respect to modern industry, Mehemet All strove zeal ously to establish the cotton manufacture and other branches of industry in Egypt ; and to a certain extent he succeeded.
Of the towns of Egypt, there are only four of commercial importance. Alexandria has been already briefly noticed [ALEXANDRIA].
Cairo or .7fahira carries on a number of ma nufactures connected with the wants of a large metropolis ; but as it is not a sea-port town, and is distant a mile from the Nile, it has no shipping. Rosetta and Damietta are sea-ports, having considerable trade.
Engineers are now, and have long been, impressed with the desirability of establishing some better mode of communication between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, across Egypt. The India xnail, after being landed at Alexandria, has to be navigated up the 31ahmoudieh Canal to Boulak, then carried one mile to Cairo, and then transferred across the desert to Suez. ,A. ship canal across the isthmus, from Pelusium to Suez, is one of the schemes under discussion. Mr. Robert Stephenson, the eminent engineer, has lately been to Egypt. A recent correspondent at Alexandria of one of the London journals says, He (Mr. Stephenson) seems impressed with the advantages Egypt and the trade with our Indian and Eastern possessions would derive from the establishment of railway com munication between the two great trading cities of Alexandria and Cairo. The cumbrous navigation of the Nile at the best seasons, and impracticability at others, for laden boats, render the advantage of such a highway so palpable, that men of less discernment have been recently agitating the question, and urging it on the viceroy's attention. Produce of the value of 15,000,000 of piastres is an nually brought down the river in native craft, subject to the delays of navigation, the danger and neglect of those charged with it, and the uncertainty of arrival to meet the engage ments or the wants of the trader." The exports and imports at Alexandria in 1849 amounted to, Exports .. X1,661,000 Imports .. .. 1,474,000 The export of cotton in that year was 183,878 bales, valued at 515,0001. The corn ex ported was of the value of 460,000/. of which Great Britain took 325,0001. worth. The total exports to Great Britain were 808,0001.; and the imports thence were 607,0001. There were 3200 ships sailed and arrived during the year, of which 708 were English. The chief articles of export, besides corn and cotton, consist of gums, incense, ivory, senna, coffee, tamarinds, rice,flax, flax-seed, sesame, mother of-pearl, tobacco. Those of import consist of cotton, woollen, hardware, silk and glass manufactures, machinery, drugs, spices, sugar, oil, candles, soap, tar, timber, wines, cordage, &c.
The trade formerly carried on through Egypt from the Red Sea is now quite incon siderable. The imposition of heavy transit duties, and the monopoly of certain articles by the government, have given a new direc tion to it, and created markets elsewhere.