Page images
PDF
EPUB

The Sûdân is not under a military Government, in the ordinary acceptance of the term, for all its more important features are essentially civil, even though the GovernorGeneral and his principal subordinates are military officers. In 1884 General Gordon wrote: "The Soudan is a useless "possession, ever was so, and ever will be so"; and Colonel Stewart added, "I quite agree with General Gordon, that "the Soudan is an expensive and useless possession." On this Lord Cromer remarks: "Without incurring a charge "of excessive optimism, it may be anticipated that, with "the judicious expenditure of capital, and the continuous "application of a system of government such as that which "is now being very skilfully directed by Sir Reginald "Wingate and his staff, the future of the country will be far "less gloomy than was predicted by the two high authorities "quoted above. But progress will be slow."

Writing in 1906 (Egypt, No. I, p. 156), he also says: "There must be no undue haste. The progess of the "Sûdân depends upon steady, continuous, unostentatious, "and combined efforts along the lines of a well-defined "policy, from which there should be no divergence."

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small]

WÂDÎ ḤALFA TO KHARTÛM.

The traveller wishing to visit Khartûm from Wâdî Ḥalfa may do so by two routes. He may either travel there direct by the Railway, or he may ride to Kerma, proceed by steamer from Kerma to Kassingar at the foot of the Fourth Cataract, thence by horse or camel, or by the new Karêma line to Abû Ḥamed, and on to Khartûm by the main line The distance by the former route is about 575 miles, and by the latter about 950 miles. A glance at the map will show how much time and distance are saved by the Sûdân Railway, which, in going direct to Abû Ḥamed, cuts off the great bend of the Nile between Korosko and Abû Ḥamed; on the other hand, the traveller who goes direct to Khartûm from Wâdî Ḥalfa will see little of the temples and other remains which still stand in certain parts of the Cataracts, and at Kurru, Zûma, Gebel Barkal, Nûri, and on the "Island of Meroë."

Wadi Halfa to Abû Hamed by Railway.—The line from Wâdî Halfa to Abû Hamed, a distance of about 232 miles, was begun on May 15, 1897, and reached Abû. Ḥamed on October 31 of the same year; the average daily progress was about 14 miles, but 34 miles were made in one day early in October. The line was laid by Lieut. Girouard, R.E., Lieut. E. C. Midwinter, R.E., and other officers, during the hottest time of the year, through a previously unmapped and waterless desert, and the work was so well done that trains carrying 200 tons of stores and supplies, drawn by engines weighing, without tender, 50 tons, could travel over it in safety at the rate of 25 miles per hour. The survey camp was always six miles in advance of railhead, the embankment party, 1,500 strong, followed at the

average rate mentioned above, and the plate-laying party, 1,000 strong, came next. One section of the last party unloaded the sleepers, and another laid and spaced them, a third party adjusted them, a fourth party fixed and spiked the rails, and a fifth party levelled the line with levers. This done, the engine and train advanced, and so kept supplies of material at hand for the workers in front, whilst gangs of men behind straightened, levelled, graded, and ballasted the line. The camp moved forward about six miles every four days, and rations and water were supplied from Wâdî Ḥalfa. Every 20 miles a loop siding was made to allow trains to pass each other, and each station had a station-master, two pointsmen, and a telephone clerk. Between Wâdî Ḥalfa and Abû Hamed the line rises about 1,200 feet. The stations are ten in number, and the various sections of the line may be thus described :—

Wadi Halfa to No. I

17 miles, up-hill the whole way.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

At No. 4 station are three wells, two of which yield water from a depth of 90 feet, and a reservoir was made there; at No. 6 station are two wells, 84 feet deep, which join each other, and there is no reservoir. The water is pumped up by Worthington pumps. At other places in the desert small supplies of water were found, but they were too highly charged with mineral salts to be used in the engine boilers. From No. 6 a narrow gauge (2 feet) railway runs to the

gold mines in the Eastern Desert.

Nos. 2, 4, 6, and 9 are

coaling stations, but all coals had formerly to be brought up from Alexandria. The head shop for railway repairs was at Wâdî Halfa, where there were lathes, drilling machines, planing machines, steam hammer, lathe for turning up the 5-feet wheels of the American engines, etc. in 1899 the number of workmen was 150, of all nationalities, the heads of departments being all Royal Engineers. The locomotives and rolling stock are of all kinds and classes, but in recent years many substantial additions to both have been made; the upkeep of engines has always been a serious matter, for it is difficult to make the native clean and oil the running parts regularly. In 1899 the Sûdân Military Railway possessed about 40 locomotives, varying in weight from 30 to 70 tons. The most powerful type of locomotive on the line is that built by Neilson, of Glasgow, which is said to be able to haul 600 tons at the rate of 15 miles per hour; it was used in laying the greater part of the Wâdî Ḥalfa-Atbara line, but it is useless on the Wâdi Halfa-Kerma line, because of the curves. The sight of one of these "steamers on wheels," as the natives call them, hauling its tender, and water tanks, and a long row of trucks piled up with 400 tons dead weight of railway material across the desert at night, and breathing forth fire and smoke like a genuine 'Afrît in the Arabian Nights, impressed the imagination of the dwellers in the desert with the idea of Lord Kitchener's "magic" far more than did the British soldier. When the first locomotive reached Berber, many of the natives hastened to touch its oily and dusty tender, believing it to possess magical powers, and some of them declared that the touch had cured their ailments ! There are no antiquities in the desert between Wâdî Ḥalfa and Abû Ḥamed, and the route of the railway may be described as containing nothing but sand, rock, a few desert trees, and blazing sunshine.

« PreviousContinue »