in the latter year the
Egyptian government or the Caisse held stock (bought with surplus
revenue) to the value of L8,770,000. The amount of debt in the hands
of the public was therefore only L87,714,000, that is to say
L8,743,000 less than in 1883, while the interest charge to be borne by
the taxpayer of Egypt was L3,378,000, being L890,000 less than in
1883. The charge amounts to about 40% of the national expenditure. On
the other hand, Egypt is not now weighed down with a huge warlike
expenditure. There is no navy to support, and the army costs but 7% of
the total expenditure.

AUTHORITIES.--A concise view of the financial situation in 1877 will
be found in J. C. McCoan's _Egypt as it is_ (London n.d.). Mr Cave's
report is printed in an appendix. The subsequent history of Egyptian
finance is told in the following blue-books, &c.:--_Correspondence
respecting the State Domains of Egypt_ (1883); _Statement of the
Revenue and Expenditure of Egypt, together with a List of the Egyptian
Bonds and the Charges for their Services_ (1885); _Reports on the
Finances of Egypt_, by the British agent, yearly from 1888;
_Convention ... relative to the Finance of Egypt, signed at London,
March 18, 1885; Khedivial decree of the 28th November 1904; Compte
general de l'administration des finances_, issued yearly at Cairo.
Consult also the works of Lord Cromer, Lord Milner, and Sir A. Colvin
cited under S History, last section. (E. Go.; F. R. C.)

_The Egyptian Army._

Early history.

The fellah soldier has been aptly likened to a bicycle, which although
incapable of standing up alone, is very useful while under the control
of a skilful master. It is generally believed that the successes gained
in the time of the Pharaohs were due to foreign legions; and from
Cambyses to Alexander, from the Ptolemies to Antony (Cleopatra), from
Augustus to the 7th century, throughout the Arab period, and from
Saladin's dynasty down to the middle of the 13th century, the military
power of Egypt was dependent on mercenaries. The Mamelukes (slaves),
imported from the eastern borders of the Black Sea and then trained as
soldiers, usurped the government of Egypt, and held it till 1517, when
the Ottomans began to rule. This form of government, speaking generally,
endured till the French invasion at the end of the 18th century. British
and Turkish troops drove the French out after an occupation of two
year