THE BINDING OF THE NILE AND THE NEW SOUDAN [Illustration: _Mehemet Ali,_ _from a painting in the possession of the Oriental Club._ LONDON: EDWARD ARNOLD: 1904.] THE BINDING OF THE NILE AND THE NEW SOUDAN BY THE HON. SIDNEY PEEL LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD AUTHOR OF ‘TROOPER 8008 I.Y.’ LONDON EDWARD ARNOLD Publisher to H. M. India Office 1904 [_All rights reserved_] PREFACE I have tried to tell in outline the story of the regulation of the Nile and some of its consequences. A rash project, perhaps, for one who is not an engineer; but, then, this book is not written for engineers, and politics enter largely into it. I have had some special opportunities of observation, and I have many friends to thank for the help which they have given me. In particular I am much indebted to the _Standard_, whose special correspondent in Egypt and the Soudan I had the good fortune to be during a part of 1902-1903. Anyone who wishes to gain a real acquaintance with the principles and details of Egyptian Irrigation should read the monumental and interesting work by Sir W. Willcocks, K.C.M.G., on that subject, to which my indebtedness is large. The standard work on the Soudan is not yet written. There is but one man who combines the necessary knowledge, experience, and attainments to do it, and he, fortunately for the Soudan, is—and will be for a long time to come—too fully occupied with his arduous and multifarious duties. I mean, of course, the present Governor-General, Sir Reginald Wingate. No official of the Soudan Government, least of all he, has leisure to write a book; but I sincerely hope that the materials for it are steadily collecting. S. P. CONTENTS PART I THE BINDING OF THE NILE CHAPTER PAGE I. THE NILE 3 II. BASIN IRRIGATION 13 III. PERENNIAL IRRIGATION 23 IV. THE CULTURE OF THE FIELDS 32 V. THE DELTA BARRAGE AND THE ENGLISH ENGINEERS 43 VI. THE CORVÉE 59 VII. RESERVOIR PRELIMINARIES 68 VIII. THE DAM AND THE NEW BARRAGES 81