Once Khartoum is connected with the sea by railway, the principal obstacle in the way of trade will have been removed, and, fortunately, this is no longer a mere vision of hopeful men. Practically the railway has already been begun. It will strike across the desert to the Atbara, crossing the mountains near Sinkat, and then run along it to join the main-line near where it crosses that river. If the railway does not come to Berber itself, Berber will probably travel up the Nile to meet it. Arab towns are not very difficult to shift. The whole route has been carefully surveyed, and a good deal has been spent in improving the port of Suakin. Materials are being rapidly collected. This time careful preparations are being made; there will be none of those kaleidoscopic changes of policy which were so fatal in 1885. It may confidently be expected that in two or three years’ time there will be something to show very much more substantial than a tennis-court at Dover built of much-travelled material, the only result of our former exertions. For the construction of the line the Government will be its own contractor. The Soudan Railway Department has a very capable staff, and they will be able to do the work as efficiently as any outside contractor, and much more cheaply. It is hoped that as far as possible native labour may be made use of. It is a hopeful indication of a change of spirit among the Arabs that the local sheikhs have agreed to bring their tribesmen to work; the experiment is worth trying even if it fails. No such thing has ever happened in the Soudan before. Meantime Suakin is looking eagerly forward. Its inhabitants have naturally suffered by the complete diversion of trade to the Nile Valley route. Very few of them can even afford to repair their houses, and the town shows signs of decay. Most of the people are unemployed, and labour is very cheap. There was formerly a good deal of trade with India and the Red Sea ports, but most of this has fallen away, and nearly all the Indian merchants who formerly had their headquarters there have left. But now that the desert which shuts off the Soudan from the sea is really to be bridged over, there will be a great change. The one seaport of these immense territories cannot fail to be a busy and prosperous place.