re of steam nor tasted oil for a decade lie rusting in the
ruined workshops. Huge piles of railway material rot, unguarded and
neglected, on the shore. Rolling stock of all kinds--carriages, trucks,
vans, and ballast waggons--are strewn or heaped near the sheds. The
Christian cemetery alone shows a decided progress, and the long lines of
white crosses which mark the graves of British soldiers and sailors who
lost their lives in action or by disease during the various campaigns,
no less than the large and newly enclosed areas to meet future demands,
increase the depression of the visitor. The numerous graves of Greek
traders--a study of whose epitaphs may conveniently refresh a classical
education--protest that the climate of the island is pestilential. The
high loopholed walls declare that the desolate scrub of the mainland is
inhabited only by fierce and valiant savages who love their liberty.

For eleven years all trade had been practically stopped, and the only
merchants remaining were those who carried on an illicit traffic with
the Arabs or, with Eastern apathy, were content to wait for better
days. Being utterly unproductive, Suakin had been wisely starved by the
Egyptian Government, and the gloom of the situation was matched by the
poverty of its inhabitants.

The island on which the town stands is joined to the mainland by a
causeway, at the further end of which is an arched gateway of curious
design called 'the Gate of the Soudan.' Upon the mainland stands the
crescent-shaped suburb of El Kaff. It comprises a few mean coral-built
houses, a large area covered with mud huts inhabited by Arabs and
fishermen, and all the barracks and military buildings. The whole is
surrounded by a strong wall a mile and a half long, fifteen feet high,
six feet thick, with a parapet pierced for musketry and strengthened at
intervals by bastions armed with Krupp guns.

Three strong detached posts complete the defences of Suakin. Ten
miles to the northward, on the scene of Sir H. Kitchener's unfortunate
enterprise, is the fort of Handub. Tambuk is twenty-five miles inland
and among the hills. Situate upon a high rock, and consisting only of a
store, a formidable blockhouse, and a lookout tower, this place is safe
from any enemy unprovided with artillery. Both Handub and Tambuk were at
the outset of the campaign provisioned for four months. The third post,
Tokar Fort, lies fifty miles along the coast to the south. Its function
is to