Show hodell i i the vast importance of the suez ship canal to be opened on the of november next will once more bring egypt into the active whirlpool of the worlds business affairs our oar read era are doubtless familiar with the he t history and condition of egypt in remote e antiquity and more recent times but they may also be interested in III some brief account of it as that interesting country is found in the immediate present modern egypt contains an area of about square miles more than eleven times thal thai of georgia and a population lation of about OW this population po pu lation is of ofa a mixed character very mixed egyptians proper copts coats bedouin arabs jews armenians Armen Jans ians and domiciled europeans far the largest number are th the arabs styled fellahs fellars Fel lahs who are the cultivators of the soil they are our competitors to sone extent in cotton growing gro whig in 1864 under the sti stimulus mulas af f british and home government management bales of cotton were produced in the whole of egypt and since bince bince since then the production has diminished last year egypt sent to great britain only bales the capacity of the nile river bottoms resembling the mississippi bottoms to produce cotton Is very great want of labor there as here constitutes the difficulty in the year 1865 when the largest attempt was made at cotton growing the neglect to produce provisions resulted in a famine which carried off inhabitants cairo lathe is the capital oy of Egypt egypt population la alexandria founded oun e by alexander the great 2191 years ago inhabitants nearly one half 0 of which are europeans A railway now extends from alexandria on the mediterranean sea by way of cairo to suez on the red sea this will doubtless co convey most of the travelers travale rs 0 over ver the route r but the vast stream of commerce which will flow through the great ship canal in the form of bulky balky articles is A wholly incalculable incalculably at the present tha present ruler of egypt Is ismail pacha who now under the imperial firman of 1867 wears the title of king of egypt his hla dependents on the ottoman ruler la Is more nominal than real and consists mainly in the payment of a small annual tribute ile lle is the fifth ruler of the dynasty of mehemet all and succeeded to power on the death of his predecessor in 1863 he ia is about old king ismail has recently instituted an assembly of representatives the first ever known in the long history of egypt we predict a rapid improvement in the government and general condition of egypt from the increased commerce which the great canal will bring through its border egypt has already one charming feature of modern civilization an institution reminding us strikingly of the model republic I 1 of imperial tendencies egypt which would rather be out of the world than out of the fashion enjoys that blessing styled a national debt this was contracted c t tr et ed in 1862 and 1864 and aggregates about about seven dollars for each man woman and child in the country king ring ismail keeps a standing bstanding army of about men and has 9 a na navy vy comprising seven ships of the line six frigates nine corvettes cor seven brigs eighteen gun boats boata and twenty seven transports the commerce of egypt is already important the total trade of alexandria in 1867 was upwards of sixty five millions of dollars in 1866 there entered that port ships of which steamers carry carny carrying ing a total burden of tons |