When at length something was done, the initiative, as in the case of the mines, came from without, and from the same source. In 1910 Thyssen, who in 1907 had acquired the mining property of Soumont, founded, with the help of a French engineering company, the Société des Hauts Fourneaux de Caen. Certain conditions as to the nationality of directors and the sources of capital having been complied with, the company started in 1912. It had three objects in view :

1. To erect blast furnaces and steel works.

2. To work the mines of Soumont and Perrières.

3. To construct a port and shipbuilding yard.

There were three associated companies, of which the first was the parent company. Its programme was :

(a) To erect 6 blast furnaces of 400-ton capacity capable of dealing with 600,000 tons of calcined ore per annum and producing 300,000 tons of pig.

(b) To erect coke ovens and a plant for the recovery of their by

products.

Building was started at Colombelles, a little to the north-east of Caen, on the plateau overlooking the Orne. In August 1914 the manager's house, the central power station, and the repair shops were finished and work had begun on the coke ovens and the blast furnaces. With the declaration of war all work ceased. By 1916 the need for munitions had become so acute that it was decided to utilise the works. The Société Normande de Métallurgie, connected with Schneider of Creuzot, took over the concern. Early in November of that year the first coke oven was lit, and in the following August the first blast furnace. Then followed two steel plants and two rolling mills. A dock was dug between the canal and the river, and a quay, with facilities for loading ore and unloading coal, was constructed. During the War an additional dock was dug by another company, and six slipways for building cargo boats constructed. In 1919 6000 tons of pig were exported and in 1920 54,000 tons, chiefly to Spain and England. This is very far from the German programme. Hopes have not been realised, and the reasons are probably complex, but it would be safe to say that the difficulty of procuring labour and the high price of coal are not the least important.

The Future. With regard to the future of the industry it is too soon to speak. The economic problem is very intimately connected with a number of political ones which cannot be touched on here. Certain facts, however, stand out clearly. Both in the mining and metallurgical industries it has been shown that the Germans made a success of what they touched. They came to the problem with a knowledge born of long years of experience; behind their various enterprises there was substantial financial backing, and they did not look for an immediate return. On the other hand, in the case of some at least of the French undertakings, there was lack of knowledge, and in all, capital in sufficient

quantity was difficult to obtain. In some quarters the system by which the French Government grants mining concessions is stated to be a hindrance to the industry. These difficulties, however, are not necessarily permanent. During the last few years interest in the Normandy iron industry has been aroused by vigorous press propaganda. The big iron firms of the north and east have brought experience and financial backing where both were lacking; the onerous system of concessions can be ameliorated. There still remains the coal difficulty, which is geographical and permanent.

It has already been shown that, of the 800,000 tons of ore mined in 1913, 490,000 tons left Caen by sea, and that as return cargo there was an import of 549,000 tons of coal. Here there is an excess import of nearly 60,000 tons of coal, which means that, as the region served by the port has very little to export apart from ore, about fifteen of the 2000-ton boats engaged in this traffic would have to look elsewhere for return cargo.

In 1913, however, no smelting was done in the area, and the mining industry made very small demands on the imported coal; but if the Société Normande de Métallurgie at Colombelles realise their hopes of smelting 600,000 tons of ore annually, the disparity between import and export tonnage will be increased enormously, even if the export of ore continues as before. This is far from probable. It has been estimated that the two departments, Calvados and Orne, could raise between them 1,000,000 tons of ore yearly. If 600,000 tons were to be smelted at Colombelles, little would be available for export by sea, since the output of mines owned by smelting companies in the north-east of France would still go by rail to the Nord and Pas de Calais, and part at least of that of the independent mines, as now, to the furnaces of the Loire. In 1913, out of the total output of 800,000 tons, the quantity forwarded by rail was 310,000 tons; there will therefore be very little left for exports. Instead there is iron. In 1920 Colombelles exported 50,000 tons of pig, and some of this came to England in exceptional circumstances, strikes and exchange rate favouring exporters. Even if in the future the whole possible output of 250,000 tons were so exported, it would be far from balancing the amount of coal imported. The Colombelles smelting would involve a great increase in imports, while the programme also includes shipbuilding yards and rolling mills, all involving their quota of coal. Further, the cotton and hemp industries, already mentioned, received a great impetus during the War owing to the immigration of operatives from the devastated regions in the Nord, and their requirements are growing.

The total of coal imported for these various purposes is likely to be in the neighbourhood of 1,500,000 tons, and against this there will be only the iron for export, and much of this will be for destinations other than British coalfields.

Under the unstable conditions that obtain to-day almost anything is possible, but it is difficult to see how, with a return of more stable con

ditions and a normal rate of exchange, the iron industry in Normandy, based on imported coal and offering very little as return cargo, can possibly compete with that of Germany or the north of France.

THE ARAB GEOGRAPHERS AND AFRICA.

By Dr. H. K. W. KUMM.

THE science of geography, as well as that of astronomy, began to take shape among the Arabs during the second half of the eighth century, and was fairly well developed during the early part of the ninth century. The generals of the various armies of the Arabs had maps at their disposal, crude though these were.

Under the two caliphs of Baghdad, Almansur and Almamun (about A.D. 800), Jews and Nestorians were in favour at their courts on account of their ability to make translations of the books of the Greek scientists. Euclid was here translated, also Archimedes and Aristotle, and last but not least the Almagest of Ptolemy. Masudi in the tenth century writes praising the caliph Almamun for having collected the savants of his day at his court. Among the geographers at this court was that remarkable man, Abu Djafar Mohammed, the son of Mussa, who was commonly known as Alkharizmy or Al-Khwarizmi. He was chosen to be librarian of Baghdad, and, on the lines of Ptolemy's geography, he wrote his Rasm-el-Ardi- -a system of the earth. This Rasm is referred to over and over again by Arab geographers.

Both Masudi and Abulfeda hark back to the island idea of the Oikoumene surrounded by Okeanos. It almost seems as if Agathodæmon's map was unknown to them, and their maps are not nearly so elaborate as one might expect with Ptolemy at their disposal. They did not place the north at the upper end of their maps, but turned them around and put the south at the upper end.

In his book on geography, Abulfeda (1273-1331) deals first with general geography, with the division of the globe, the climates, the size of the earth. Then he goes on to discuss the ocean and its various parts, the winds, the lakes, and the rivers. Of the Nile he says, "There is no other river like it on earth. It is the greatest and most celebrated. It differs in three ways from all the others: 1. It is the longest river; 2. It carries fertilising deposits (filth, mud, and clay); 3. It culminates when the other rivers decrease. Its sources are in the lonely lands near the centre of the equator, and this is why none has been able to secure perfect information about its source. We only know what has been transmitted to us by the Greeks, and especially by Ptolemy, who says: "The Nile rises in a mountain called Comr (Kumr)." After this he repeats almost word for word what Ptolemy says about the Upper Nile.

The next part of his book deals with mountains, and then he describes different countries, beginning with Arabia. His description of Egypt.

He follows

covers some twenty-eight pages in Reinaud's translation. Ptolemy's plan of giving latitude and longitude for all the places he refers to. After Egypt the next country he deals with he calls Magreb (West). This is the word used in our days by the Arabs for Morocco. Abulfeda includes in it the whole of North Africa lying west of Egypt. To give an idea of the care with which Abulfeda compiled his geography, I give herewith his description of Fez in Morocco: "According to Athual 8° E. and 32° N., according to the Kanun 8° E. and 32° 35′ N., according to Ibn-Sayd 10° 50′ E. and 33° N., Fez is a town of Morocco at the extreme end of the third climate. It consists of two towns separated by a river. In Fez are the sources of several brooks. The two towns together have thirteen gates. Fresh water runs through the meadows, through the houses, and into the baths, a thing that is found at no other place in the West or in the East. Fez is a modern town which dates from the Advent of Islam. Ibn-Sayd reports that, according to Alhadjary, the people that dug the foundations of the town found a hoe in the ground (a hoe is called fax or fez in Arabic), and after this the town was named Fez. Ibn-Sayd adds that the canals that carry water to the various parts of the town, if they were added together, would be six hundred miles long. The people of Fez get their water with great ease. Above the town rises the fortress traversed by a

brook. One counts in Fez three mosques and a famous school."

The next part of his geography deals with the torrid zone in Africa. He makes the strange statement that according to Ibn-Sayd the people at the sources of the Nile are brothers to the Chinese. This suggestion of Mongol influence among the peoples of Africa is important. He next carries his readers along the east coast of Africa, and speaks of Mombasa, which he spells Monbase, and of Sofala. The capital of Sofala he calls Seyuna, and says that this place is situated 99° E. and 21° lat., but he does not say whether the latitude is north or south. According to him. the people of Sofala are Moslems. He reports Ibn-Sayd as saying of the people of Sofala that their principal industry consisted of extracting gold and iron, and that they were dressed in leopard skins. He adds: "According to Masudi there are no horses at Sofala; the soldiers march on foot or ride on oxen."

Abulfeda refers in his geography to no less than thirty-six authorities by name. A list of them is given in pages 74-91 of H. F. Wüstenfeld's Abulfeda (see references at end).

One of the earliest Arab geographers was Sheikh Abu Ishak, called Al Istakhri, who wrote several books. His Book on the Climates was produced about the middle of the tenth century, and his Book on the Countries at about the same time. The latter is translated by A. D. Mordtmann. Al Istakhri brings together some interesting information about the old Egyptian gold mines. He says that, "travelling westward from Kolsum, the African Coast becomes desert as far as Bedja. The people of Bedja are darker than the Abyssinians. They are dressed like the Arabs, live in tents, and work gold mines. They are heathen and good

for-nothings. West of them is the land of Habesh (Abyssinia). The inhabitants here are Christians and so are they of Nubia, which indeed is a larger and more populous country than Habesh." Thereafter he writes at length about the north coast of Africa. Cairo he knows under the name of Fostat. Of Alexandria he says that "the buildings, street pavements, and columns are made of marble. The gold mines of Bedja are fifteen days' journey from Suan." He calls the Mediterranean Bahr-el-Rum (the Roman Sea). His map of the Mediterranean is an artistic but terribly unscientific production.

Al Istakhri begins his geography with China. He gives its boundaries, then those of India, then those of the lands of the Rumi (Romans or Europeans), which he says stretch from the ocean to the country of the Slavs. "The south end of the earth is the Sudan, which borders on no other country; its boundaries are the sea and the deserts." He has evidently not read Ptolemy and still believes with Strabo and Eratosthenes that Africa ends near the equator.

In the British Museum is a small manuscript dating from the time of Al Istakhri (the tenth century), written by a Persian Suhrab (in Arabic) dealing with the Nile Delta. It describes the various branches of the Nile, fixing locations by means of latitude and longitude and giving the names of a few of the more important towns. Cairo is called Misr. The writer speaks of the Pyramids as "the Pyramids of Joseph (On him be Peace)." The Alexandrian branch of the Nile is evidently the most important of the seven branches named.

About a hundred years after Al Istakhri, in 493 of the Hegira (A.D. 1100), Abu-Abdallah, Mohammed, Ibn-Mohammed, Ibn-Abdallah, Ibn-Edrisi was born at Ceuta of the Hammudie family. Though a descendant of the prophet he was a friend of the Christians, and wrote a description of Africa and of Spain. In his book he begins with the Sudan, then deals with the sources of the Nile, travels down the Nile and along the North Coast of Africa, then returns to the Nile, describes that river from Nubia to the Mediterranean, and ends with Spain. He makes certain interesting statements about Central African places. He says, for example: "Bagirmi is inhabited by Berbers, and Caucau [probably Kuka] lies on a river that comes from the north, some of the natives say that it runs into the Nile." Here we have still the old idea that at least part of the Nile comes from North-West Africa. He places the mountains of the Moon 16° N. of the equator-a strange mistake, as 16 N. is the neighbourhood of Khartum. He says that both the Blue and the White Nile come from these mountains of the Moon, and then he repeats Ptolemy on the ten rivers, two lakes, then six rivers and one lake out of which finally the Nile emerges. He tells us that near this last lake there is a populous city called Terma.

Makrizi quotes from Edrisi a passage not found in the manuscripts we now possess. He says of the last lake from which the Nile comes that "it is called Kuwari. The people are negro cannibals. The river Rana flows out of this lake, and the rivers of Abyssinia. The Nile