Great Britain and Egypt, upon the other hand, have secured a territory which, though smaller, is nevertheless of enormous extent, more fertile, comparatively easy of access, practically conquered, and containing the waterway of the Nile.  France will be able to paint a great deal of the map of Africa blue, and the aspect of the continent upon paper may please the patriotic eye; but it is already possible to predict that before she can develop her property—­can convert aspiration into influence, and influence into occupation—­she will have to work harder, pay more, and wait longer for a return than will the more modest owners of the Nile Valley.  And even when that return is obtained, it is unlikely that it will be of so much value.

It only remains to discuss the settlement made between the conquerors of the Soudan.  Great Britain and Egypt had moved hand in hand up the great river, sharing, though unequally, the cost of the war in men and money.  The prize belonged to both.  The direct annexation of the Soudan by Great Britain would have been an injustice to Egypt.  Moreover, the claim of the conquerors to Fashoda and other territories rested solely on the former rights of Egypt.  On the other hand, if the Soudan became Egyptian again, it must wear the fetters of that imprisoned country.  The Capitulations would apply to the Upper Nile regions, as to the Delta.  Mixed Tribunals, Ottoman Suzerainty, and other vexatious burdens would be added to the difficulties of Soudan administration.  To free the new country from the curse of internationalism was a paramount object.  The Soudan Agreement by Great Britain and Egypt, published on the 7th of March, 1899, achieves this.  Like most of the best work done in Egypt by the British Agency, the Agreement was slipped through without attracting much notice.  Under its authority a State has been created in the Nile Valley which is neither British nor Ottoman, nor anything else so far known to the law of Europe.  International jurists are confronted with an entirely new political status.  A diplomatic ‘Fourth Dimension’ has been discovered.  Great Britain and Egypt rule the country together.  The allied conquerors have become the joint-possessors.  ‘What does this Soudan Agreement mean?’ the Austrian Consul-General asked Lord Cromer; and the British Agent, whom twenty-two years’ acquaintance with Egyptian affairs bad accustomed to anomalies, replied, ‘It means simply this’; and handed him the inexplicable document, under which the conquered country may some day march to Peace and Plenty.

CHAPTER XVIII:  ON THE BLUE NILE

The authority of the Khalifa and the strength of his army were for ever broken on the 2nd of September, and the battle of Omdurman is the natural climax of this tale of war.  To those who fought, and still more to those who fell, in the subsequent actions the climax came somewhat later.  After the victory the public interest was no longer centred in the Soudan.  The last British battalion had been carried north of Assuan; the last Press correspondent had hurried back to Cairo or London.  But the military operations were by no means over.