48o THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE operations for the reconquest of her Soudan provinces, would obviously militate against any claim on the part of France to have established an effective occupation, even if the Anglo-Egyptian forces had not reoccupied the capital of the Soudan before the arrival of a French military expedition on the banks of the White Nile. Upon this theory, the apparent discourtesy of not informing the Khedive of the intended resumption of a forward policy until this policy had actually been set in operation, is also capable of a very simple interpretation. The entourage of his Highness at this period included various persons in constant and intimate communication with the French Government In an Oriental palace it is impossible to keep State news a secret, and if the impending campaign for the recovery of the Soudan had become known at the Khedivial Court, it would have been known also at the Quai d'Orsay ; and various objections might have been raised which might have materially delayed the immediate commencement of the campaign. I believe that when the facts of the case became known, his Highness recognized the force of the considerations which induced the British authorities in Egypt to act on the instructions telegraphed from London, without previously obtaining his approval and sanction.

Moreover, any irritation which, might have been caused by the expedition being undertaken without the Khedive being consulted, was removed within a very short period by an incident in which, as usual, France, with a desire to thwart British ascendency in