you can get access to a Blue book marked " Confidential," and entitled Report of the Nile [Expedition], by Commander Hammil, R.N. 160, 87 W.O., quite recently printed, you will find at page 26 a letter from the Admiral, Lord John Hay, expressing a very strong opinion of the impracticability of using these small boats. I may be, and I hope for the success of the expedition that I may be, wrong in the view that I have taken. At the same time it must be borne in mind that the conditions under which those boats are to be worked are very different from those entertained, or at all events made known to me when I gave my opinion. It now appears that 500 Canadian boatmen and 300 Krumen are coming out to help to manage these boats. Steam engines and trucks suited to the peculiar gauge of the Wady Haifa railway are coming all the way from the Cape; one or two steamers are coming out in pieces, to be put together above the Cataracts, and Wolseley has apparently unlimited carte blanche to cover any expenditure and adopt any measures he may think necessary to ensure the success of any expedition which the Government may order, although, as usual, at the eleventh, I may almost say the twelfth hour. I must add, to conclude this long story, that they have requested me to remain on here while Wolseley remains, to render any assistance I can; to this I have, of course, consented, but I have written to Whitmore 2« to beg that as soon as my advice! and assistance 1 are no longer required I may be finally recalled, and I have further urged this upon the score of expenses attending my position out here, which have already placed me a few hundred pounds out of pocket, for which I shall never be recouped.
To his Sister
Cairo, October 13, 1884.
My dear Minny, —... I am still a little uncertain as to my immediate movements, but sorry as I shall
be to give up a life here, which I have until latelyenjoyed very much, I shall not be sorry, I must confess, to get clear of it. I will let you know as soon as I hear from the War Office. The Government are incurring very heavy expenditure in the somewhat unnecessary preparations which are being made for this expedition, which even up to now the Government, so far as I know, has not actually ordered. They will not send a force beyond Dongola if they can possibly help it. Lord Northbrook 27 returns to Cairo about the i8th. He will then remain here about a week, returning home by Port Said and visiting the battlefield of Tel-el- Kebir, where I shall probably accompany him.
To Lady Elizabeth Romilly
Cairo, October 13, 1884.
... The preparations for an expedition are being actually carried on. These small boats from England have priority of claim upon the river transport, and so far as I can judge will be nothing but a source of very great and useless expenditure. I am satisfied that with timely notice and good management the native boats procurable on the Nile, whether from Dongola or below the Second Cataract, would have sufficed for our requirements, and that at a comparatively insignificant cost. A quite unnecessary fuss is now being made of this expedition; with the means at our disposal in this country, we could have concentrated, had the Government wished it, by this time at Dongola three or four battalions with mounted infantry, guns, and stores, ready for a further move forward, and more would soon be following. The climate is now pleasant enough, and would be no impediment to the troops marching the whole way, if necessary, from Sarras to Dongola. I believe that the route from there to Khartoum is virtually open, whether across the Desert or by the river; judging from all the reports we have lately received, there would be little, if any, opposition.
1884] AN IMPOSSIBLE POLICY 329
The same may be said of the Suakin- Berber route; my belief is that a small English force to support the friendly tribes would be sufficient for the purpose. Both Osman Digna's and the Mahdi's followers are, according to all reports, falling off, and I fully believe this to be the case; the former have been suffering much from want of food and from sickness, and many of them have withdrawn to cultivate their lands. Another cause for this defection is the rumour, no doubt much exaggerated, of the advance of our English army, and the native tribes, in true Oriental spirit, are turning round to what they believe to be the strongest side. These two causes are not permanent, and unless the prestige of our advance is maintained by our establishing some settled government in the Soudan before Graham leaves it, our present influence will naturally vanish, and the Mahdi, Digna, and Co. will then exercise greater power than ever.