194 EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN.

materials for erecting huts and machinery. This first instalment would, it was thought, be sufficient for about 25 miles of railway, and it was reported that the sidings, level-crossings, and other fittinos kept in store, would be sufficient for the whole line, and the small locomotives in use at the royal arsenal were pronounced most suitable for the work, chiefly on account of their easy transport and their small consumption of fuel, about 150 lbs. of coal being ample for a day's work. The railway was to be laid by native labourers, under the direction of a company of royal eno-ineers from Alexandria and others sent from England, and a light overhead telegraph was to be erected parallel with the line for its whole length. In the composition of the force which was to form the expedition it had been determined that mounted infantry should take an important place, and a thousand saddles of a special pattern to fit the small Arab horses of the country were demanded from the harness-makers at Woolwich at the request of Captain Barrow. Returns were required of the commissariat department showing the provisions of all kinds in store, and it was believed that there was a sufficient reserve for all requirements, even with the proposed expedition in view.

The next consignment was a number of passenger trucks, each to carry twelve soldiers and a brakesman on a platform in rear. They were lightly built, with tilt covers, and open at the sides, but with stout blinds of oiled canvas on rollers, for use if necessary.

Although the under carriage was fitted to the narrow gauge of 18 inches, the body of the vehicle was 6 feet wide, and the seats balanced over the wheels like those of an outside car. The goods trucks were longer, but not as wide as the passenger carriages, and were more numerous. Ordnance and commissariat stores, and a considerable freight of medical necessaries, were also sent at an early date, more than two million pounds of preserved meat and other provisions for the men forming the proposed expedition, being drawn from the reserve stores in Woolwich dockyard, together with a supply of compressed forage for the horses.

India-rubber tanks were provided for holding water in the desert.

The rails (in 21-feet lengths), weighing 36 lbs. to the yard, were