der a merciless sun. Throughout
the river campaigns, if the intellect of the army, if the spirit of the
troops, have come from without, Egypt herself has provided the sinews of
war.

Such was the material out of which the British officers have formed the
new Egyptian army. At first, indeed, their task was embittered by the
ridicule of their comrades in the British and Indian Services; but as
the drill and bearing of the force improved, the thoughtless scorn would
have been diverted from the Englishmen to fall only upon the Egyptian
soldiers. But this was not allowed. The British officers identified
themselves with their men. Those who abused the fellah soldier were
reminded that they insulted English gentlemen. Thus a strange bond of
union was established between the officers and soldiers of the Egyptian
Service; and although material forces may have accomplished much,
without this moral factor the extraordinary results would never have
been achieved.

It was not long before the new military organisation was exposed to the
stern test of war. The army that was raised to preserve internal order
was soon called upon to guard the frontier. The revolt in the
Soudan, which in its earlier stages seemed the least of the Egyptian
difficulties, speedily dwarfed all the rest. The value of the new force
was soon recognised. In June 1883 we find General Hicks, then preparing
for his fatal march, writing to Sir Evelyn Wood: 'Send me four
battalions of your new army, and I shall be content.' But fortune
protected the infant organisation from such a disastrous beginning. The
'new army' remained for a space in Cairo; and although during the Nile
expedition of 1884-85 the Egyptians were employed guarding the lines of
communication, it was not until the British troops had been withdrawn
from Dongola that they received at Ginniss their baptism of fire.
Henceforth their place was on the frontier, and from 1886 onward the
Egyptian troops proved equal to the task of resisting the northward
pressure of the Dervishes.

The numbers of the army grew with its responsibilities. Up to the end of
1883 the infantry still consisted of eight fellahin battalions. In 1884
the first Soudanese battalion was raised. The black soldier was of a
very different type from the fellahin. The Egyptian was strong, patient,
healthy, and docile. The negro was in all these respects his inferior.
His delicate lungs, slim legs, and loosely knit figure contrasted
unfav