The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-09-15

| natives apd by their own interpreters
BUT WHERE WILL. THEY BIED sUpPLIEss
The greatest difficulty the British forces
have to contend with is the iInpossibiIity
of obtaining supplies in the country.
| Neither at Alexandria nor along the Suez
| canal can they obtain one ounce of food
| from the natives, and although the latter,
| like all Orientals, have large stocks of sup
| plies they appear to have none. and, on
the contrary, claim to be fed by the Eng
| lish government, as they pretend that on
account of the war Trey can receive no
provisions from the interior. Food here
and at Port Said, Suez and Alexandria al
ready brings fabulous prices. reminding
/ one of the seige of Paris, and as a market
report may interest American housekeepers
1 | will quote the prices of few items after
informing you that the Egyptian currency
| is in piastres and that one piastre is worth
| exactly cents In American money; mutton,
| 10 piastres; -four, 6 piastres; sugar, 90
| piastres; coffee, 80 piastres; eggs, pias-
| tres each and vegetable marrows from 5
to 20 piastres. according to size. There is
no beef, butter fish or milk to be had. and
few tins of condensed Swiss milk were
bought for the military hospital this morn
ing at so piastres each. The Commissary-
General is at his wits end and the Levan
tine contractors reaping good harvest.
The British authorities III London were
under the impression that the natives
would bring in supplies if they could make
large profits; they would rather buy his
provisions than sell them to the invaders
for five times their value. Contracts for
large quantities of stores have been made
in Marseilles, Genoa Malta, Cyprus, Crete
and the Syrian ports, which are daily ar
irving by steamers of the Messageries,
Lloyd, Fraissinet and Bell lines, the scene
along the shore reminding me forcibly of
the first weeks of the Cyprus occupa-
ton.
THE COUNTY SUPPORTING ITS DEFENDERS.
Arab Bey has, on the contrary i'm
mense supplies of provisions of every
description sufficient to last him for years,
and which are freely given to him by the
natives, who have sworn to destroy all vii
lagos and towns from which they may be
driven by the English, SO that the latter
may not have the benefit of their supplies
nor of their houses and mud huts for shell
ter. The invaders have no means of trans
port, their horses being utterly useless to
them in this climate, in which none but
native born horses can live, and no serious
advance can be made until they can com
mand q large force of mules, oxen, camels
and asses, for which orders have been
given in every quarter of the globe and
which cannot possibly be had for some
time to come; while Arab Bay has nearly
one thousand miles of railway branching
in various directions, with good supply
of rolling stock, also the Nile and its
branches, all of which are navigable by
steamers and sailing vessels, of which there
are quantities, some being very powerful
He also commands as many beasts of bur-
IL ho hlvy xxrhin oh
be used whenever communications by rail
or water are not practicable.
JOHN BULLS HUGE BILL OF COSTS.
The cost of this expedition must be enor-
nous on the British side, the chartered
transports alone costing over E25. 900 per
day, and what with supplies. mules, camels,
forage and so on, not to say anything OF
maladministration, John Bull will find this
dearer than he expected, whereas Arab
does not require one single plaster, as the
faithful viii supply all his wants, but even
should they refuse he has the means of
Selling anything and everything he needs.
Fever and dysentery have already appear
ed in the British camps, although no prog
ress has been made towards the interior,
and when they do advance the invaders
may expect the same percentage of inval-
ids they had in Abyssinia and Cyprus. The
Egyptians are not only fighting a religious
war, but national one at the same time,
in which they are assisted and encouraged
by Moslems and Christians alike, and Copts,
Syrians Greeks, Bedouins, Armenians and
even many Europeans of various nation
alities are on the Liberator's side.
THE NILE IN THE CONFLICT.
A mistaken idea appears to prevail among
those unacquainted with the country that
the rising of the Nile will materially inter-
fere with Sir Garnet Wolseley's plans,
This is not so, as, although the greatest
part of Egypt becomes inupdated that
portion of it forming triangle between
partially flooded the majority of the land
having to be irrigated by artificial means,
for which the Egyptian government con-
tracts with Messrs. Easton & Anderson
and other influential companies who have
established some of the most powerful
machinery in the world, which, however,
has not been used this season, as the
pumping stations were abandoned by the
engineers before the Nile commenced to
rise; and even should Arab set the pumps
to work it is so late in the season that
much damage could not be done to the
English positions, whereas his own posi-
tions and his line of retreat would suffer
materially. He can, however, destroy the
bridges at Benha and Barregah, for which
purpose / know positively that he has
made preparations, and if closely pressed
L IL.