The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-09-23
opened the whole question again, Your Highness

opened the whole question again, Your Highness
has readf
HIS HIGHNEss-Yes, Monsieur; Mr.. Stanley did
nobly there; yet do not exactly understand
where the sources of the Nile are. 1t seems they
are not In either OF the great lakes the Nyanzas.
CoRREsPoNDENT-Lvingsto goes nearly eight
hundred miles farther south, in latitude, and
seems to have struck the reservoir from which
many river systems proceed, including Your High
ness Nile for His Highness owns the Nle.) 1t
Will take years to settle the question.
HIS HIGHNEss-Nearly every African traveller
Qaughing) has his own private source Of the Nile.
CORRESPONDENT own no such property.
The viceroy laughed, and observed that your cor
respondent was rational and modest.
HIS HIGnNEss-How far did you proceed, Mon
sieurP
CONSEQUENTLY the twelfth degree Of north
latitude, near where is found this great barricade
OF heritage, vegetation and tropical seeds which
may become the ruin OF the Soudan.
His HIGHNEss-Yes; Sir Samuel Baker wrote me
about these distractions and told me that should
remove them. have sent four or five engineers
l forget the number-t0 survey end report upon
them. do not know II 1t will be wise to de-
stroy them. out salt. Suppose these 300 miles
Of vegetation are suddenly removed from the Nilef
Mon Dteui we may be inundated here. 1t must be
with great caution that undertake to alter the
now Of the Nile. It Is the blood OF Egypt, and to
trine with the courslng Of its waters is to expert
ment upon the life of my country. You know how
the world has been crying out
"CUT THE CATARACTs"
Yet the engineers who have surveyed them and
reported upon them say that the cataracts are
necessary to Egypt; that II they were not in the
river all the waters would rush down to the Med
IL, uu,Nl
and leave the bed Of the stream dry than half
the year. These cataracts, then, economize the
waters distribution; they valves, and check its
low and are part Of the marvellous machinery OF
this mighty river. have great reluctance to In
terfere with the operations OF nature. CHE Vice
roy has the reputation Of being little super
stitious.) Somehow consider it dangerous bust
ness, and that is why have sent engineers to
survey this tropical vegetation in the Nile Should
1t be raced at once the whole OF Egypt might be
overnown.
[NoTE.-The readers attention is invited to the
singular caution and worthy discretion contained
in this last observation. have seen all the prin-
cipal cataracts Of the Nile, and there can be no
doubt that His Hghness Is perfectly right
THE soUDAN.
CoRREspoNDENT-Then Your Highness will seek
communication with the soudan by rail and not by
water9
HIS HlGHNEss-That ia it exactly. shall build
the road between wady Halfa and Shendy running
along the Nile to Dongola, and thence crossing the
desert to Shendy. You have seen the Soudan and
know its wealth and resources. 1t Is separated
from us. The question Is how we can best develop
1t. Manifestly 1t Is to unite the two countries by
the rail. Now the Soudan is OF yonder in the tar
distance. The governors and under governors are
beyond scrutiny. They do as they please and are
more absolute than the Prince here in lower
Egypt. That is one OF the faults which railroad
alone can correct.
CORREsPoNDENT-But it will cost much money.
HIS HIGHNRss-No "a, 00O, 900 or f5, OOO, OOO What
Is that9 What six, eight or ten millions If you
obtain resultsf know very well that 1t Is fool
ish thing to spend million on nothing, but remem-
Der that there is something in the SOudan. shall
build the road coate Qt coate. Do you not believe
that the Soudan is worth more than f10, 0Oo,o00'
CORREsPONDENT-Certainly no one more than
appreciates the grand future which must come to
that country.
HIS HIGHNEss- Voyonsi What Is there In the coun-
try to justify this six hundred and seventy-hve
English miles Of railway that intend to builds All
the products ofInda can be grown there and worked
there. The cultivable land Is millions upon millions
Of acres; the soil is virgin, and once railroad
passes through 1t interior commerce must spring
up; peoples now remote and unfriendy TO each
other will be bound In amity and mutual interest
by the rail; general contact and dispersion will
ensue; money and material prosperity will arrive,
and then (said His Highness with glow Of pleas
ure and a burst Of eloquence> then behold my
corner Of Africal railway will connect the Nile
with the Red Sea. The same influences which have
brought prosperity to the doors Of the humblest
fellah in Lower Egypt to-day will invade the Sou
dov With fha nttv md fha hQ vQ
seen In savagery and poverty will, trust, in ten
years become thrifty, united community.
CORRESPONDENT find the views of Your High
ness singularly splendid. When shall this work
beginG
HIS HrGHNEss-Monsieur, instantly If had the
reports Of the engineers. only await the surveys,
and then the operations shall commence.
CoRREsPoNDENT-But what culture must prevail
in the Soudan cotton, sugar -
HIS HIGHNEss-It must be O cotton and sugar
country entirely, and cotton sooner than sugar,
and the cultivation, as you know, has already be-
gun with surprising abundance.
JUDICIAL REFORM.
"Still," said His HQhness with mixture Of sad
ness and Indignation my government is embar-
raised by the treaty relations with the Western
Powers which have kept Egypt back for forty or
fifty years. You know what these are. hope the
restrictions will be removed. It is my profound
conviction that the day has gone by when they
should longer be applied to Egypt. Egypt is not
what she was q half century ago. What de-
mand is that the Powers should constitute an in
ternatonal tribunals that they should send judicial
officers here. Why do they object, 'Est-ce gu III a
Que1QIe chose dams te cel de pEUpte, out change Ia
nature dun homnse2' Must man become bad be.
cause he comes here do not believe 80, II he be
good at home. Look at my government. We have
sixteen governments, which are all administered
after the laws Of their own countries. Each Con-
sui General Is prince We have to work against
these potentates, and in our relations
with the subjects we are obliged to
keep fifty or sixty lawyers running over
Europe guarding our interests. You have no idea
how power and authority are dispensed and exer-
cised in my dominions. What Is the first condition