If even now it is thought necessary to make formal treaty arrangements on the subject with Abyssinia, much more real would be the apprehension if the Soudan Government were hostile to Egypt. But quite apart from any hostility, an important question might arise. We have seen what great efforts have been made in Egypt under the system of perennial irrigation to secure a good supply of water in the summer months; it is then that the river is at its lowest; the best of reservoirs can only supplement the natural flow of the river. At the very time that it would be easiest to do it, an interference with that natural flow would be most disastrous. The mere employment of a considerable amount of water on irrigation in the Soudan during the summer months might have a very serious effect. The possession of the Soudan practically guarantees to Egypt the safety of her water-supply. The fact that the sources of the White Nile are in purely British territory, and that in the Soudan itself the British flag flies side by side with the Egyptian, gives thus a more and more permanent aspect to the British position in Egypt. It is calculated that at the present moment another 3,500,000,000 cubic metres of water over and above the present summer supply, including the Assouan Reservoir, would amply suffice for all possible requirements in Egypt. When the Dam is raised to its full height, about 1,000,000,000 cubic metres more will be provided. If only Egypt were to be considered, the remainder of the water required could be stored in a similar reservoir built somewhere above Wadi Halfa. Egypt could then be developed to its very fullest extent, but ‘such a work,’ as Sir W. Garstin remarks, ‘would leave untouched the countries bordering the river to the south. Their interests must be safeguarded by such a scheme as will insure them a proportional share in the prospective benefits.’ From every point of view the interests of the Soudan are vital to Egypt. Bitterly has she suffered from the neglect of those interests in the past. Misrule and oppression caused the Mahdi’s rebellion, with all its burden of shame and suffering. With a more intelligent enemy the loss of the control of the Nile might have meant irretrievable disaster. She knows now that a prosperous and contented Soudan is the best safeguard against rebellion. Upon England, too, rests the responsibility for the welfare of those vast provinces, once so shamefully abandoned to barbarism and ruin. English arms have retrieved that disgrace. It would be impossible to allow the Soudan to get nothing and Egypt everything, even if such a course were not certain to be fatal to both.