CHAPTER II PAST AGES OF CONQUEST To enter a country without knowing something of its history is to rob the experience of half its usefulness and pleasure. Those who are ignorant of it see but half what may be seen, and that which does come before them is imperfectly appreciated.

This must be my excuse for inflicting the following rough and imperfect summary of the history of many thousand years as it is recounted by the most eminent authorities.

The history of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan is so intimately associated with its physical characteristics and geographical position that a foreword of description is essential to a proper understanding.

As it is known now it is almost entirely an inland country, bounded on the north by Egypt alone, against which it imposes formidable defences of desert by land, and boulder-strewn rapids by river.

On the east its character is more varied, possessing a frontage on the Red Sea, of inestimable importance to a country otherwise surrounded by various states. Following the eastern frontier 11