HISTORIC EGYPT.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 191, 21 April 1915, Page 7

HISTORIC EGYPT.

IMPORTANCE OF NILE LAND. COLONIAL TROOPS FRIENDLY WITH NATIVES, | Napoleon Bonaparte once called Egjpt the most important country in the world, his world. He who had stirred the Mahrattaa of Holkar and Scinde to revolt, who had given orders that the great and then new island-conti-nent beneath the Southern Cross should be surveyed, mapped, and given his name, who dreamed of an Oriental empire which was to outshine that of Alexander —h« knew that it was in Egypt that he would have to fight for that empire; he found that it was disaster in Egypt that broke the splendid dream. must stir up trouble in Egypt.’’’ That German watchword shows plainly that the importance of Nileland is recognised by the Germans. Again," in the greatest war since Napoleon’s time, a war for the destiny of that same Eastern Empire and for far more, Egypt becomes ‘the most important country in that great world, Britania’s domains. Look at the map of the world, nad think what another and more difficult problem this tremendous .struggle would be without Egypt. It is the chief gateway between the Motherland and half of her Empire. Here the forces of half the Empire assemble for battle; our Eastern Empire’s soldiers are completing their training here under the best possible conditions; tliuy are within a few days’ journey of the theatre of war. A blow successfully struck at Egypt, therefore, would be a blow at the very heart of Empire; it would have a substantial effect on conditions in the European battlefield. A Military Clearing House.

Half an Empire gathers for battle! ' It. gathers to defend this important ’ link in the well-forged chain, to pre--1 ])are for Euopean battlefield tasks, ala's, in gathering, shows the observer more i clearly than, perhaps, any other county could do at the present time what i an extraordinary structure our Empire is. Egypt, and particularly Cairo, Etc greatest of African cities, is to-day the military clearing-house of Britannia’s dominions "east of Suez.’’ Through it drains prismatically all the Imperial wonders of the East; from here radiates afresh towards the Motherland and her battleline that glorious spirit, never yet found wanting, which hgs kept, and will keep, the Imperial her : - tage one and great. Here is the supremo proof that In • British Empire has been built with jus- . lice. India, won. hold and ruled by a handful of men. is sending streams of her best fighting races to way with us. The I'di;t •■•• hick onr enemies hoped and believed would fire in> in revolt is with as to a man. Australia-f mi New Zealand, the new. free Dominions, have ' not hesitated. Ceylon is here. "" r- “ , a touch of the Homeland in the pro- ; ymic* of. the dapper English Ten-Aer-ial. i Mixture of Race-.. Half a n'cxon races mingle with the mixture of people who make up Egy • The mongol-looking Ghurk" " hills of far Nepaiil, and the Hoot, the ■ mini from Ceylon and the e <■.«.•Pbr. 1 Barburine„ the Lancashire lad rad the l sit a 1 wart Sikh are all friends. What a variety of creeds and ideas, of colours ! and customs are represented. The very poles of thought and mind and tongue ' are brought together; the oldest and . the youngest of civilisations blond in a | comon cause without difficulty. . The j warp and woof are seen to be spun into t one splendid and glorious whole. The ■ age-old Pyramids look down upon a \ farce gathered for the defence of ; Egypt, Empire, and Right such as 1 time has never seen before; here rs i presented tP the ey« a riddle of rule | which has often puzzled and misled the \ foreign obs-errer and thinker. Here, \ too, you see it solved. The union, so <; comp bite, of so many different races i under o-n# flag r» the result of the seti ting up and the adherence to that high I »tandard of Right a-nd I/iberty for [wMEh % « fight to*d«}i\ The Imperial Ft»r©»s. • D-ari.ng the past few, wwks I have I seen that force . improving j cap idly and woud’erfuUy before aiy

eyes. The Territorials have won the highest praise from their leaders; the .Indian contingents are all but ready for whatever task they may be called upon to undertake. The men from Australia, Now Zealand, and Ceylon have developed into a force of which any country might well be proud and which will bo of the greatest value at the front. How they all hope that the wn will not be over till they have had their chance! That is, perhaps, a crudely put hope, but at bottom it means that they all go in the hope that through each this agony of nations will be the sooner ended in honour, if only by the fraction of a minute of time. The Astonished Dragoman. Every trade, profession, and industry, too, is represented in those forces. This morning in the street I met an Australian private. “I am going to buy carpets to send home,” he said. “Let us get a dragoman and go into the bazaar.” The dragoman was found, and he took us to a large shop. Carpets were spread out. This one cost 50; so did another; a third was valued at £IOO. "But,” said the dragoman to the dealer, "this man is only a private soldier; he can only buy very cheap carpets.” Imagine the astonishment of the dragoman when the 11 private soldier” decided to take all the three carpets and paid for them on the spot! "Truly,” he muttered, "the English are a marvellous people.” The soldier was an Australian barrister who had given up a practise worth £5,000 a year to shoulder a rifle. New Zealanders and Natives. One is always coming across instances of the goodwill which exists between the soldiers and the Egyptian people. The other night in a cafe I heard an Egyptian quarrelling good-naturedly with four Territorials as to who should pay for drinks. "No,” said the Egyptian, "the honour is mine. You are Egypt’s guests, and wo arc glad to see you here.” In another corner a waiter was being gently corrected by a New Zealander for having omitted to serve two Egyptians when coffe o had been ordered "nil round! ” "It is something.” said a New Zealander to me, "to have lived to come with the Expeditionary Force thus far. In our Ittle islands, as I-suppose you i are in yours, we are apt to become j somewhat parochial. But this an eye- | opener, and just such as. perhaps. w<* j needed. Wo all know the Empire in theory; here we have it in reality, in practice. The experience, even if it goes no farther, should do Us and ev- | erybody else a world of good. It is In- I snirino- to have it proved to us : ■ I r> • | so thoroughly, that there is no flaw in the Empire, and that we moderns, niton told we are decadent, are not only J ready to a man. but fit to keep up the : traditions of our race.— f Correspond• j cut of London Daily Carou.cb'A i