the Gulf of Aden, Dongola being one of these Soudanese provinces.

Egypt is now a dependency of Turkey, and is ruled by a Khedive, who is a
subject of the Sultan. Egypt pays a yearly tribute to Turkey.

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.