The Press.
London, England, 1857-12-12 00:00:00

T H PRESS, DECEMBER 12, 1857.

he was informed that it was not the intention of her
Majesty's Government at that time to send any troops
through Egypt; and perhaps I may be allowed to
state slimily the reasons. To send a large body of
troons, as was then intended to ho sent, through Egypt
would have required complicated arrangements, and
taken up infinitely more tune than would have been
saved. If wo sent, for instance, 5,000 men to Alexandria
for the purpose of going through Egypt there would be
great difficulty in transporting so large a number of
troops across the Desert. When they arrived at Suez,
unless there were ample shipping to take them down the
Red Sea, there would be a great delay at a place where
there would be no possible means of putting them under
proper cover. They would also bi c.:_. •-• a et )severe
heat in the passage downth3R )1 i mightrender
them unfit for service when they art t ved in 1 ndia. More-
over, as they would have required a very large amount of
shipping to be ready at Suez, it would have been quite un-
pardonable in the Government to have sent them there
until they knew that there were sufficient transports at
Suez. It would also have been necessary to send them
through Egypt in light marching order; whereas, sending
them by sea, we were able to send them with baggage,
stores of all kinds, and guns. They would arrive in good
health, and when landed would be perfectly ready for any
• service that might be required of them. There was another
collateral reason, which, upon a balance of equal advan-
tages, would be calculated to turn the scale. lit a national
point of view it was of importance in putting down the
mutiny that we should do it with our own means in every
respect, and that it should not be competent for any
foreign nation to say that if it had not been for certain
facilities afforded is by friendly powers, which might have
been withheld, we should not have been able to accom-
plish our purpose. Tdo not mean to say that if there had
been a great difference in point of advantage in favour of
one route over the other such a reason ought to prevail,
but when the balance was against the overland passage
that considerition was entitled to be taken into account.
On the 2nd of October, when the season had moderated,
when the great bulk of the troops had been sent, and the
Government had occasion to send smaller detachments,
the passage of which was more easy, Lord Stratford was
desired to ask the formal permission of the Porte and the
Pasha of Egypt. The permission was obtained, and in the
first place two companies were sent across Egypt to rein-
force the garrison at Aden. Some artillery and engineers
have been sent to Calcutta and Bombay since, and from
that time we have been sending detachments or regiments,
which are now on their way by that route. The right
hon. gentleman asks what was the time when the French
Government made their offer of a passage through France.
That was on the sth of October, and at that time the bulk
of the troops had gone. Although the offer did great credit
to the friendly disposition of the French Government, and
we are very grateful to them for it, we thought that the
difficulties of a land passage, and of landing and reship-
ping the troops with their arms and baggage, rendered it
better that they should go round at once by Gibraltar than
pass through France.