actically 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 st