Moreover, the expectations of the Egyptian military authorities were soon fulfilled.  The Dervishes threatened Kassala as soon as the news of Adowa reached them, and indeed there were signs of increased activity in Omdurman itself.  In these circumstances the British Government determined to assist Italy by making a demonstration on the Wady Halfa frontier.  They turned to Egypt.  It had always been recognised that the recovery of the lost provinces was a natural and legitimate aspiration.  ’The doubtful point was to decide the time when the military and financial resources of the country were sufficiently developed to justify an assumption of the offensive.’ [Lord Cromer’s reports:  Egypt, No. 2, 1896.] From a purely Egyptian point of view the best possible moment had not yet arrived.  A few more years of recuperation were needed.  The country would fight the Soudan campaigns more easily if first refreshed by the great reservoirs which were projected.  For more than two years both projects had been pressed upon the Government of his Highness the Khedive—­or, to write definitely, upon Lord Cromer.  At regular intervals Sir Herbert Kitchener and Sir William Garstin would successively visit the British Agency (it would be treason to call it ’Government House’)—­the one to urge the case for a war, the other to plead for a reservoir.  The reservoir had won.  Only a few weeks before the advance to Dongola was ordered Garstin met Kitchener returning from the Agency.  The engineer inquired the result of the General’s interview.  ‘I’m beaten,’ said Kitchener abruptly; ’you’ve got your dam’—­and Garstin went on his way rejoicing.

The decision of the British Government came therefore as a complete surprise to the Cairene authorities.  The season of the year was unfavourable to military operations.  The hot weather was at hand.  The Nile was low.  Lord Cromer’s report, which had been published in the early days of March, had in no way foreshadowed the event.  The frontier was tranquil.  With the exception of a small raid on a village in the Wady Halfa district and an insignificant incursion into the Tokar Delta the Dervish forces had during the year maintained ‘a strictly defensive attitude.’ [Egypt, No. 1, 1896.] Lord Cromer, however, realised that while the case for the reservoirs would always claim attention, the re-conquest of the Soudan might not receive the support of a Liberal Government.  The increasing possibility of French intrigues upon the Upper Nile had also to be considered.  All politics are series of compromises and bargains, and while the historian may easily mark what would have been the best possible moment for any great undertaking, a good moment must content the administrator.  Those who guarded the interests of Egypt could hardly consent to an empty demonstration on the Wady Halfa frontier at her expense, and the original intention of the British Government was at once extended to the re-conquest of the Dongola province—­a definite and justifiable enterprise which must in any case be the first step towards the recovery of the Soudan.