The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1896-05-21

rho lower river, for all Egypt is depend
ant for IT'S existence. to say nothing OF its
nrosnar;tv on the annual overfOws OF
that river. and French engineering skill
might find means to divert the course OF
Tho stream and thus ruin the land of the
Pbaraohs. All these things are possibili-
ties that were probably taken into the ac-
count when the enterprise was under con-
alteration, and unquestionably had a
share in determining the course that has
been resolved upon by the British Gov
eminent.
Aside from the political aspects OF the
case however. the Egyptian Soudan is
well worth conquering for its own sake.
The opponents of the British Govern
ment's policy have loudly proclaimed the
worthlessness of the region, and declared
that the whole country is not worth the
blood that was shed for it during the
campaigns already made there, but this is
merely the talk of an opposition party,
which considers itself under obligations
to object to whatever the Government
proposes, no matter how obvious may be
its expedieney. During the Egyptian oc-
cupation of the region, the exports from
the Soudan down the Nile and by means
Of caravans to Cairo amounted to about
100000 year, besides as much more
that went abroad through the Red Sea
ports and from the SOmaI coast A dis
trict that can export $1S 100000 worth of
goods every year is certainly worth hav-
ing for country from which this amount
of surplus wealth can be annually spared
for export, under SO bad Government
as that of Egypt, would certainly prove
of almost incalculable wealth if its own
affairs were properly administered and the
people given an equitable system of taxa
ton. The Egyptian domain comprised
Kordofan, Nubia, Senaar, Taxa and some
provinces still further south, an area esti
mated at little less than 100000
square miles, with an unknown popula
ton.
The country is as different from Egypt
proper as can easily be conceived. In
stead of the arid sands and brazen skies,
from which rain never falls, there are
forests and swamps, long stretches Of
what we call prairie land, and frequent
plateaus, considerably elevated above the
river, which furnish excellent pasturage
for wild antelope and the hocks and
herds Of the inhabitants. Here and there
are arid spots, even along the river bank.
where the shadoof, or curious mechanical
Continuance which answers the farmers
instead of pump, is put into practical
operation, in order to secure for the grow
ing crops the amount of water necessary
to their proper growth, but AS rule the
rainfall is sufficient for all purposes. and
little artificial irrigation is practlced. Inc
soil is so fertile that anything which can
be raised in a tropical or sub-troplcal
climate will grow with luxuriance in the
Egyptian Soudan. 1t is the native home
of the sweet potato, the yam and the
watermelon, and in the hot sunshine of
the Upper Nile Valley, and in the clear
ings made by the natives in the great for
ests of Equatoria, these vegetables grow
to a size and with an abundance unknown
in other parts of the world. A traveller
in that region some years ago said that
all the tables of Europe could be supplied
with fruits and vegetables from the Egyp-
tan Soudan, and when this region is
pierced by railroads, the time may come
when oranges, bananas and plneapples,
figs, dates and melons, from the heart of
Africa, may be seen on the tables of Paris
and London. That day is yet far away,
however. the exports of that region be-
ing at present limited to such articles as
will bear the long, hot journey to the mar
kets of Cairo or the Red Sea coast. Os-
trich feathers have for many years form
ed the greater part, in value, of the Sou
dan EXPORTS while wax, coffee, a large
variety of gum, and an enormous quantity
of fine skins and hides make up the re-
mainder It is plain that under proper
conditions the region can be made enOr-
mously productive, and those conditions
will be attained when the land has been
reconquered for civilization by the Anglo
Egyptian troops.
So far as the towns are concerned, they
are, at present, hardly worthy of the
name. Khartoum and Omdurman, Ber-
Der and the rest are all alike in their
main features, the leading difference be-
ing found in the fact that some are larger
than others. The striking similarity is
even continued down the Nile. for Edfour.
on the borders Of the present Egyptian
frontier, is of the same class. A few
buildings of stone, where live the wealthy
and important personages of the town, a
great many houses with mud walls and
matched roofs where dwell the canaille.
Narrow streets, or rather passways, lead
between the houses, and these miserable
alleys serve alike for entry and exit and
as receptacles for all the filth and offal
of the houses. If it were not for the vul-
lures and dogs and hyenas and jackals,
every town in Soudan would be depopu-
lated in year by pestilence, but by day
the vultures eat all they can hold, and
after nightfall the other animals prowl
about and devour the remainder, so that
the towns of the Upper Nile Valley are
as healthy as those of any tropical coun-
try
Intelligence from the Egyptian Soudan
has been scarce since the death of Cor
don and the fall of Khartoum, but from
all accounts the power of the Mahdi's sue
cessor is waning. The original Mahdi