PREFACE

the mud flats in the river and on the moist mud of the banks.

In the courtyards of the ruined houses of the old villages were to

be seen the stones on which the women were grinding their

dhurra when Mahmud's soldiers appeared, and the scattered

grain which lay under the grinders testified to the suddenness of

their flight. Ruin and desolation were everywhere, men and

cattle were rarely seen, and even the dogs had been wiped out.

Such was the state of the country when Lord Kitchener gave

it back to Egypt. On returning a year later I was able to travel

all the way to Khartum by railway, and on all hands there were

small signs of improvement ; a feeble trade had begun to manifest

itself, the astute Greeks were beginning to open shops in the

ruined towns, the hand of the Sirdar had been laid with no uncer-

tain weight on the kidnapper of slaves, and the rebuilding of Khartum had begun. Lord Cromer and Sir William Garstin

had been to the Sudan, the former had created an Administra-

tion, and the latter had begun to evolve his great scheme for the

control of the waters of the Nile, which must be of indescribable

benefit to Egypt. One by one the former possessions of Egypt

in the Eastern and Southern Sudan were occupied, and the civil

administrator followed quickly in the steps of the soldier.

Journeying to Khartum again two years later, the great

progress which had been made everywhere amazed me, and when,

after a further interval of three years, I visited that city once

more, I found the place so changed for the better as to be hardly

recognizable. A handsome river front had been made, the Gordon College opened, a large mosque was in course of con-

struction, building was going on in all directions, wide roads and

streets were laid out, the mounds of rubbish and old bricks, and

the large, shallow, mosquito-bearing pools had disappeared, a tramway was working, and steamers were plying between Khartum and OmdurmAn. And signs of material progress were

not confined to the capital, for in all the towns and villages which

I passed through new buildings were springing up, well-attended

markets were held, and in every bazaar trade was brisk. The

railways were improved, a service of steamers had been estab-

lished on the White Nile, and on the Upper Nile, which had

been freed from the " Sudd," telegraph lines were being extended,

VOL. I. XV a