In 1859 the building of the Suez Canal was begun. This canal extends across the Isthmus of Suez, and connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, opening a waterway between Europe and Asia.

To accomplish the enormous task of building the canal it was necessary to have a great deal of money.

France subscribed one-half, and the Khedive of Egypt the other half.

But Egypt was not rich enough to advance such a large sum, so after a while the Khedive sold the shares he owned in the Suez Canal Company to the British Government, and the canal was then owned half by England and half by France.

Having such a heavy financial interest in the country (the cost of the canal was about one hundred million dollars), both England and France were anxious to have some control of the government of Egypt to prevent any legislation that might be hurtful to the development of their enterprise.

For some years England and France exercised a joint supervision over Egypt, but later it was arranged so that England assumed sole charge.

Much was done by England to develop the natural resources of the country, and all went well until the rebellion of the Mahdi in 1881.

The Mahdi claimed to be a Moslem prophet.

The prevailing religion of Egypt and its provinces is Mohammedanism.

Now the Mohammedans believe that a great prophet, or Mahdi, will come to lead them. Under his generalship they expect to gain possession of the whole world.

More than one ambitious man has come forward and claimed to be the Mahdi.

Whenever such a leader has appeared the people have flocked to his standard, and through blind faith that success must attend their cause under his leadership, have done some brave deeds.

The most important of all the Mahdis was the chief who came forward in 1881, declared himself to be the long-expected prophet, called the people to his standard, and, taking the field against the British and Egyptian troops, overthrew the Egyptian power in the Soudan.

At first the rising of this new Mahdi was not considered serious, but after a time the rebellion assumed such serious proportions that it became evident that Egypt alone could no longer hold her provinces in the Soudan.

She appealed to England for help, and in 1884 the famous General Gordon was sent out by the British Government to help the Khedive.

There were many military posts scattered throughout the Soudan, and the object of General Gordon's mission was to relieve these garrisons, and withdraw them safely from the troubled territory.

General Gordon was known as "Chinese" Gordon, on account of a brilliant campaign he made in China, for which he was decorated with the yellow jacket and peacock feather by the Emperor of China. He was chosen to go to the aid of the Khedive because he had had long experience in Egypt, having been in the service of the Khedive as Governor-General of the Provinces of the Equator from 1874 to 1876, and of the Soudan from 1877 to 1879.

The story of the stand he made against the forces of the Mahdi at Khartoum, and of the long-delayed expedition which was sent to his relief, are among the saddest annals of modern history.

Khartoum was the capital of the Soudan, and an important commercial center.

General Gordon was forced to make a stand here against the Mahdi, and was besieged in Khartoum from March, 1884, to January, 1885. The city which had held out so bravely was at last taken by storm and General Gordon killed. The relief expedition which he had been expecting and hoping for arrived just two days after the city had fallen.

With the fall of Khartoum the Egyptian power in the Soudan was overthrown.

Lord Wolseley made a campaign against the Mahdi's forces, but it was too late.

The Soudanese were lost to Egypt. A strong effort is now being made to reconquer them.

The British officers in the Egyptian army have been ordered back to duty, and it is said that action will be taken in a few weeks. It is expected that the Mahdists will fight to the death, but they will not be as powerful this time as they were before, as they are now no longer united. The tribes south of Khartoum are in open revolt against the Mahdists, and a part of their forces will have to be detached to quell them.

The news from India is still very discouraging.

A fresh outbreak has occurred on the outskirts of Calcutta. Eight thousand workers employed in the silk mills on the Hoogly River have started for Calcutta to help the rioters.

The troops at Barrakpur, fifteen miles north of Calcutta, have been ordered out to intercept the strikers, and prevent their advance upon the city. They are also carefully guarding the bridges which span the Hoogly River. This river is one of the mouths of the Ganges.

While the immediate cause of the outbreak was the quarrel over the mosques, about which we told you last week, it seems that the anger against Europeans is really due to the measures which have been taken to stamp out the plague.

In India there are many races of people who, while they all live under the same rule, have each their own special habits and customs.

These curious customs are rigidly observed. Some must not drink milk, some must not touch lard, none of them must eat food prepared by persons who are not of their religion, and many of them must not leave their own country.

If they neglect these customs they are said to lose caste—which means that they lose their social position among their special tribe, family, and friends.

To lose caste is a very serious thing to a native of India.

Europeans are, as a rule, very careful not to offend the natives in these matters, and are most particular to observe all the customs in regard to caste. But at the time of the plague it was not possible to exercise this care.

When human lives were in danger the doctors did not try to find out what caste sick persons belonged to, but did what they thought best for them.

We know for ourselves, in our own families, that the rules of the Health Board in regard to sickness are not always agreeable to us.

We submit to having our invalids taken to hospitals when they have contagious diseases because we know that we must not endanger other lives.

Imagine, then, how the ignorant Indian natives must have felt, when, for reasons that they could not be made to understand, their sick were carried away by Europeans, and put into hospitals with people of every tribe and caste, all to be treated alike, and forced to eat the food prepared by foreigners.

They regarded the vigorous means which the Government took to stop the plague as a personal cruelty to them, and could not be brought to realize that everything was being done for their benefit.

Many educated Indians, who were perfectly able to understand that the Government measures were right and proper, pretended to side with the people, and, for the sake of stirring up the revolt, published articles in the papers, and circulated handbills denouncing the wickedness and cruelty of the British Government.

This course is likely to give England a great deal of trouble, for the people of India do not love the Europeans.

The telegrams say that there is no reason to fear the overthrow of the British Empire in India, because there are seventy-five thousand white troops in the peninsula, and they are fully able to keep order there.

It is thought that the discontent will lead to a series of outbreaks that will have to be put down by the soldiers, and which will increase the bitterness already existing between the Europeans and the natives.

The Turkish troubles are approaching a crisis.

We told you that the Sultan was doing all in his power to delay matters, in the hope that something might happen which would relieve the situation.

The Powers are, however, determined to settle the