308 SAVAGE SUDAN 



faithful old body-servant, Hassan, was wont at frequent 

 intervals to bring us delicious iced refreshers. Yet, 

 however oft he appeared, gigantic Hassan never failed 

 to symbolise in person the bridging of that gulf between 

 the Sudan of yesterday, with its black and blood-stained 

 story, and the peaceful Sudan of to-day. 



Worthy of remark it is, that during five years of world- 

 wars and rumours of wars, yet throughout the Anglo- 

 Egyptian Sudan never a dog moved its tongue against 

 British rule striking testimony to the administration of 

 the Governor-General, Sir Reginald Wingate, who, from 

 the reconquest in 1898 till after the outbreak of European 

 War, directed the affairs of this vast Dependency and 

 equally of his successors in that high office. That the 

 Sudan caused us no anxiety during those crucial years is 

 an achievement no less valuable than many a more 

 spectacular victory. Far away in remote Darfur, it is 

 true, the semi-independent Sultan, AH Dinar, thought he 

 saw opportunity to fish in troubled waters thought, 

 perhaps, that the 450 miles of interposed deserts provided 

 sufficient protection. But Ali miscalculated. A photo- 

 graph I saw at Khartoum somewhat gruesome indi- 

 cated that Ali is incapable of further mischief. His 

 features were of Baggara type to our eyes, somewhat 

 brutal and truculent, not altogether unlike those of the 

 Khalifa, whose portrait (also taken as he fell on his final 

 battlefield of Gedid) is also extant at Khartoum. One 

 result of Ali Dinar's precipitancy is that Darfur now 

 forms an integral part of the Anglo- Egyptian Sudan ; and 

 Captain Lynes and Mr Willoughby Lowe, it may be 

 added, are at present investigating its zoology! 



The Palace of Khartoum overlooks Blue Nile : hence 

 it enjoys not only the delightful retreat of Gordon's 

 shady gardens beyond (whence many of these ideas 

 emanate), but in front commands a broad stretch of the 

 river. From our windows, each dawn revealed an ever- 

 changing panorama of bird-life ; the polyglot assemblages 



