Show campaigning IN EGYPT the rough bead road between cal cairo ro and aud khartoum alcor icor london Standard 1 1 I 1 think it right to place on record in plain words the coat cost wo we may havo have to count before embarking on a soudan campaign there are iwo two routes proposed by which the relieving force might adva advance nee to khartoum the first by korosko to berber via abon hamad the second from shakim to berber it is scarcely nece necessary to deal with them separately for the same difficulty exists in both cases though in a greater degree on the abao hamad route the difficulty is the want of water on the shakim to berber route it is ia possible that sufficient water might be found to water the beasts but every drop ne necessary cestary for fr the men would have to be carried the distance is roughly miles or twenty five days march in this climate and through that country the greater part odthe of the road is 13 through mountainous defiles until the last two stages stagy of fifty three milea miles each are reached this leaves milea miles to be covered at the end of tb the 0 journey with only one watering place contain containing il 9 wells enough for the beasts alone between the allowance ance for fj r each soldier is one gallon gall 0 n per diem it has been reckoned that the weight of his water and food is thirteen pounds a day for twenty five days his rations therefore weigh pounds or pounds more than the burden ofa of a camel on a long march I 1 it is true that for short distances a camel can carry pounds if a stout beast and well fed but pounds is all he can carry for a long iong march we must therefore be e prepared to provide a camel per man but this is not taking into account loss of camels or waste of water now at shakim it was found that in carrying fifty gallons of water from the baab to first zareefa a di distance stanco of 18 miles one gallon gallou was wasted in order therefore to I 1 insure a sufficient supply it would be necess necessary ury to have at least three oneala U to two me uen F for or a n fo men inen wo we bl uld Were me fOrc need camels but it i t is necessary to have at least one driver to every three camels which adds drivers to this force who also would need more camels to carry their food finally camels might glit perhaps equip the fol fl oice cc were they self but then there comes the question of who ia is to carry the food for the camels lt ita is reck reckoned that with the scanty graz grazing i u 9 they can find each camel w would 1 d require at least 26 pounds of fodder once in two days again we find the camel cannot even carry liia his own food fur fora a 25 ney in fact we are reduced in the face of a sober contemplation of facts to toa admit imi it that the difficulties far from having been exaggerated have not been stated at their true standard it maj may seem idle to conti continue nut the cata catalogue loue 0 of difficulties after the foregoing calculations but there r 0 are rave several ral minor points worthy of consideration almost the whole of the route from shakim to berber lies through defiles where perhaps two t wo camels camel can walk abreast the marching 0 column colu mn would therefore stretch a along long for many miles hemmed in and exposed in a co comparatively in ively helpless condition to the fierce attacks of the mountaineers it is allowed by every one that the dispatch of the force in driblets drib lets of would ba be suicidal idal but it is not easy to see the advantages of a large army where one part ol 01 it would bo be unable to come to the aid of the rest has any one ever considered the gigantic task of loading and unloading thousands of camels or the position of tho the troops if attacked whilst thia this operation was going on it may be stated that it would take six hours to load and unload and thus a twenty five days march might be prolonged to one of thirty days or more and what would euch a n prolongation mean it would simply mean starvation and death by thirst of the whole army it is time that this aeterna al terna tive should bo be plainly put before the english people who have but a slight idea of what the proposed expedition will ent entail ail any arty attempt to start without the most perfectly organized commissariat and transport sport roust must bring about a terrible disaster it would requires require 3 or four months tn t organize a service which might or might not bo be adequate aate the expense would be some ditlif g enormous enor and long before expedition the would be ready to move vc we may way believe that the fate of gordon will have been decided in in one way or 0 r the other it is a d deplorable cp arable fact that general gordon may be sacrificed but it is a fact which was evident several months ago ao a q o the government refused to aid him then and it i ia scarcely possible now for him to be sel saved d by the tho dispatch of english troops he ile may contrive his own escape but it can cannot not bo be repeated too often oan that it would require months 0 properly iro perly equip a relieving army arm an that to dispatch a hasty eppedi I 1 tion is merely with open eyes to send more brave men to share the fate of the khartoum hero and the ill starred hicks I 1 have not mentioned the treatment of the sick on such a march there would be no returning to the base it would be the advance of a flying column through an country without going into particulars r tic ulars it may be at once declared dec I 1 ar that a man on falling sick might just as well be shot and put under ground there will be no possibility of halting or erecting shelter tents in the race across across the desert against starvation sun fever and heat apoplexy are what may be expected the treatment necessary for such cases will be next to impossible one fifth or one sixth of the whole force traveling under the conditions proposed would probably die on the road |