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 Algérians, 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. The first road in Tunis was built in 1872 from the city of Tunis to Bardo and Gouletta by English capitalists. It was, in 1880, sold to an Italian company to which the Italian government for political reasons had seen fit to guarantee certain dividends. Other small lines have since been constructed, and more important ones have been prospected. The number of miles at present in operation is 153. The French colony on the Senegal River has a number of short lines, of which the first was opened in July, 1883. These lines aggregate at present about 200 miles. It is now contemplated to extend this system to the upper Niger. This would necessitate the construction of 240 additional miles of road. The Cape Colony has the largest mileage of any of the European colonies in Africa, the absence of navigable rivers rendering railroads here more necessary than elsewhere. The first line was opened on the 13th of February, 1862. It then extended from Cape Town to Earste River, but was extended to Wellington the following year. The number of miles of road in operation in 1875 was 906, and in 1891 it had increased to 2,067. All the roads of the colony, excepting a line of 93 miles belonging to the Cape Copper Mining Company, are operated by the colonial government. Their net revenue in 1886 was 2.84 per cent. of the capital actually invested. Port Natal built her first railroad in 1860. It was only two miles long and extended from the city of Durban to its harbor. Since then several inland lines, aggregating over four hundred miles, have been constructed at a cost of twenty-two million dollars. The roads are operated by the colonial government and yielded in 1891 a net revenue of 4.4 per cent. on the capital expended. Short lines have also been built on Mauritius and Reunion, and there is now every indication that Portuguese Africa and the Congo State will be provided with railroad facilities in the near future.