Such is one of the main considerations that fix the choice of the itinerary and bring me to the conclusion that the Transsudanese—a work of general interest in Africa, and more particularly a work of specially Franco-British interest—ought to be undertaken without delay, and pushed forward as actively as may be by the cordial co-operation of France and Great Britain. These remarks do not apply to the local railways of the different colonies, though they may be expected to participate largely in the traffic of the Transsudanese, either by carrying down the products of the interior to the ports of the coast or by giving access to the regions in need of development, and in which Sudanese labour will be required. I am of opinion that these railways, limited as they are to the particular territories of the several colonies whose economic development they ensure, should continue to be constructed and managed, as hitherto, by the colonies they serve: those colonies should bear the expense of such local lines by their own financial resources, or by those placed at their disposal by the mother-country. As for the Transsaharian, destined to connect the railways of North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunis) with those of the Niger basin, I have had the opportunity of saying in another place that it has become a vital necessity of French colonial policy in Africa—a necessity that the great war has proved to demonstration. For this reason I hold that its construction should be regarded as a work of strictly national interest. Still, a glance at the map will convince the observer of the profit that will accrue to the British West African colonies, especially when it becomes possible to cross from Europe to Africa without the inconvenience of a sea-passage. I have often been met by the objection that the Transsaharian “will not pay”; that it will be almost exclusively a strategic railway, very laborious to construct, and very costly to keep in working order. Such is not my opinion. The Transsaharian, once the junction effected with the Transsudanese, will connect two exceedingly rich regions—the Africa of the Arab and Berber races and Black Africa. Between these regions a considerable commercial traffic will arise, which will have an influence as great or even greater than that of the Transsudanese itself on the economic development of Africa; its receipts per kilometre will be as large if not larger than those of the most favoured of the railways running from the colonies along the coast inland towards the Sudan, for the Transsaharian will be the direct means of penetration into the richest regions of tropical Africa, not only from North Africa, but also from the whole of Western Europe. =1871-1919=