THE EASTERN SOUDAN. 
283 
when Colonel Parsons commanded them ; and I had the honour of being brigad¬ 
ed with them under Colonel Long, at the battle of Khartoum. I think that we 
as artillerymen should be extremely proud of our connection with that most excellent 
corps. I have seen them in action and on the march, and nothing could be 
better. Those who talked of the shooting of my battery seemed to forget that 
the real brunt of the battle from an Artillery point of view was borne by three 
batteries of the Egyptian Artillery, we were comparative spectators at that 
time, but they were in the thick of it, and I am told that their shooting was 
most accurate and steady and materially contributed to the defeat of the Dervishes. 
And I would mention in this connection the names of the Commanding Officers, 
viz. Young, Lawne, Peake and deRougement. Then we all of us know about 
Major Young’s horse battery, (applause) some of us may criticise, but I do not 
know whether we all know that his guns were practically useless—certainly two 
of them were, but in spite of this handicap, Major Young I consider brought 
great glory on himself and on the Regiment, (hear hear). He did extremely well, 
and I feel it to be a great honour that I have the opportunity of saying from the 
point of view of one of the Royal Artillery present at Omdurman, how very much 
we all thought of his, and all the batteries the Egyptian Army, (applause). 
Colonel Parsons has told us all about the norrors and the fights which have 
happened in these last twenty years, but 1 hope the next lecture which may be 
given in this Theatre on the Soudan, will be on the progress and the advancement 
of the people of that country, whose destiny is in the hands of a gunner and a 
sapper, that is to say of Lord Cromer and Lord Kitchener (applause). 
Major A. E. W. Count Gleichen, c.m.g., Grenadier Guards : General Maurice, 
ladies and gentlemen, I think in Colonel Parsons’ very interesting lecture he has 
covered all the ground of the Eastern Soudan, and the recent fighting there. 
The only thing he has suppressed is his own part in it. Throughout the lecture 
he always spoke of the operations in the third person, and never referred to him¬ 
self (applause). There is not very much for me to say, but there are two points 
only, which struck me as being useful to mention and which I might touch on. 
The one is the composition and organization of this Arab battalion. We have 
heard little of this organization, and we have not had much detail of how it was 
composed, or the tribes from which it was recruited, and I should like to ask 
Colonel Parsons to tell us something about that ? The other point is the question 
of the future development of the Eastern Soudan. You will have seen in the 
newspapers lately 1 daresay, that it is the intention at some future date, I hope 
not very far on, to continue the railway from Omdurman up to Abu Haraz and 
across to Gedarif, and up by Mugatta andKassala, and right away down to Suakin 
again. Now I should like rather to hear Colonel Parsons’ views on the possibility 
of that railway and the extent to which it would develop the country ? (applause). 
Major G. E. Benson, R.A.: General Maurice, ladies and gentlemen, I have not 
very much to say, I told my story in the January number of the c Proceedings’ of this 
Institution,* but I should just like to add my testimony to that of Colonel Parsons 
on the kindness of the Italian officers. I was in their country, Eritrea, for some 
time, and they were very kind to me in every possible way. I have had many 
talks with them on the subject of Kassala, and they told me that they were 
prevented from doing anything there by orders from Italy. They were not 
allowed to do anything in the way of attacking the Dervish posts at El Fasher 
and Asobri. As regards my share I may say 1 was very much handicapped by 
having no cavalry, and only had a sort of makeshift mounted infantry, two men 
on a camel, or a total of about sixty men on thirty camels; also twenty-five 
miles of river in that rough country was far too much for 400 men to watch, and 
as a matter of fact some thousands of Dervishes got past me. I had less than 400 
* R.A.I. ‘ Proceedings,’ Vol. XXVI., No. 1, “ A Patrol on the Atbara.” 
