n between Colombo and Kandy in
1867, to which several branch lines and extensions have since been
added. The total system comprises at present about 180 miles.

Short lines have also been built in Burmah (1889); in the Malay
Peninsula (1885), in Sumatra (1876), and in Cochin China (1885). A line
from Bangkok to Bianghsen, in Siam, is being projected at the present
time.

In Africa, if we except its northern coast, the construction of
railroads has only kept pace with the slow development of the resources
of that continent. Its European colonies are still but thinly inhabited,
and their industrial and commercial life still resembles much that of
the American colonies of the seventeenth century. There can be little
doubt, however, that with the increasing immigration the growing demand
for better transportation facilities will speedily be met by European
capital.

The first railroad upon African soil was built by the Egyptian
government from Alexandria to Cairo, and from there through the desert
to Suez. A part of this line, 130 miles long, was opened to traffic in
1856, and the remaining ninety miles the year following. Nothing further
was done until after Ismail Pasha ascended the throne, in 1863. The
railroad system of Lower Egypt, between Alexandria in the west, Cairo in
the south, and Ismaila in the east, was then greatly extended and the
service materially improved.

After the opening of the Suez Canal the line through the desert to Suez
was abandoned. The railroad system of Egypt comprises at present about
1,250 miles, all of which belongs to the government except two short
lines which are private property.

The beginning of the railroad system of Algiers dates back to 1860, when
the French government gave a charter to the Companie des Chemins de Fer
Algerians, authorizing it to build a number of lines connecting the
principal cities of the province with the Mediterranean. The line from
Algiers to Blidah, thirty-two miles long, was opened on September 8,
1862. Further construction was then delayed until 1863, when the charter
of the original company was transferred to the Paris, Lyons and
Mediterranean Railroad Company. The original plans were then in the main
carried out, until the disturbances caused by the Franco-Prussian war
again put an end to railroad enterprises. In 1874 three new companies
were chartered and railroad building was resumed. In 1888 the Algerian
railroad system comprised 1,350 miles.