PREFACE

the Post-Office was rapidly becoming a flourishing department, and the imports and exports showed that the trade of the country was developing rapidly. Though the population was still scanty,

there were everywhere signs that it was increasing steadily if

slowly, and that the material condition of the people was much

improved. And this great work had all been done in seven

years ! The men who had done it were few in number, thej'

fared hard, they worked day and night, they lived in any shelter

that came handy, and every one of them toiled with a devotion which is beyond praise. They were hampered by want of funds, and it was of the utmost importance that every piastre should be made to go as far as possible ; had the money been their private

property they could not have taken greater care in spending it. The splendid results achieved by the British in the Sudan are due

to the firm and consistent policy which Lord Cromer has followed

with unwavering tenacity, and to his determination to make all

the dwellers in that country free men.

What the exact effect of the opening of the railway from

Atbara Junction on the Nile to Port Sudan on the Red Sea will

have upon the inhabitants of the country cannot at present be

said, but since it has given Khartum a seaport, and it will

permit the produce of the Southern Siidan and of the Dongola

Province to find its way easily into all the markets of the world,

it cannot fail to create a trade which must eventually be large and profitable to every class of native. Moreover, the opening of

the Red Sea Railway really means the opening of the Sildan,

a country which has from time immemorial been practically cut

off from the rest of the world. For the first time in history the

fierce, warlike peoples of the Nile Valley, and of the neighbouring

deserts, have had an easy outlet provided for the produce of

their land and their own personal energies. They may now beat

their swords into ploughshares and their spears into scythes,

and be certain that, so far as the Government is concerned, each man will enjoy the fruit of his labours. For thousands of years

the Sudani folk have had nothing much to do except plunder

caravans, and raid each other s lands and make war ; they have now the opportunity of learning that trading is more profitable

than fighting, and many of them have not been slow to grasp

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