CECIL RHODES’ DREAM--FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO
II.--_Southwards from Cairo._
While the southern arm of the great line has been pushed on
energetically northwards from Cape Town, the northern limb has
descended almost as rapidly down the Valley of the Nile to the great
interior, so that the heart of the continent is being eaten into
spiritedly from both ends. The two branches have been built under
totally different auspices. Whereas the southern section was carried
out by private enterprise, the northern division is the work of
Government effort.
In the north the railway has made history rapidly, and its conquest has
been of a complex character. It placed a unique weapon in the hands
of the Government, and it wrested a vast track of Africa, aggregating
950,000 square miles, from barbarity and religious fanaticism in the
form of Mahdism.
Owing to the impoverished condition of the country, the railway in
Egypt has experienced a very chequered career. It commenced its pacific
invasion promisingly enough, but it was found to be a highly expensive
settling influence for a land whose coffers had been depleted almost to
the extent of emptiness.
The early lines, when laid, were neglected, and consequently fell into
a sorry condition. The majority of people who had regard for their
lives and limbs preferred other vehicles of transport. Everything in
connection with the iron road was conducted in a haphazard manner.
Trains started without any one having the faintest idea as to where
they were going or what time they would reach some destination. Lord
Cromer relates that when he first went to the Land of the Pharaohs all
the lines were single track. No staff or block system of any kind was
in vogue, and there were no signals. A train started from a station
on the off-chance that another train was not coming in the opposite
direction. Needless to say, as he tersely remarks, “he avoided those
lines.”
In the Sudan matters were even worse. The Khedive embarked upon
a laudable enterprise when he decided to carry the iron highway
southwards from Wadi Haifa. Khartoum was the objective, but nearly
half a century passed before the iron horse appeared at the latter
point, for when the Khedive’s railway got so far as Sarras, 33 miles
south, funds became exhausted and the scheme was abandoned. Another
attempt was made in 1885–6, on the occasion of the Nile Expedition,
to resuscitate the scheme, and by great effort another 53 miles were
tacked on from Sarras to Akasha. The life of the second section was
short, for when the British forces retired the track was pulled up by
the dervishes, and Sarras reverted to its position as the southern
terminus.
When Lord Kitchener was deputed to crush the Mahdi for once and for
all, he found 1,200 miles of sandy desert between him in the north
and the seat of the fanatic’s power. The river was available for the
movement of troops as in the previous campaign, but the latter had
emphasised the disadvantages of that highway through hostile territory.
He foresaw that only one agency would enable him to accomplish the
desired end, and that was the railway. Among his officers was a
Canadian engineer, Sir Percy Girouard, and he discussed the possibility
of building a line across the desert to span that inhospitable gap
in order to pour his troops against the Mahdi forces. The engineer
realised the situation and undertook to carry the line southwards from
Wadi Haifa.
The task was commenced in 1896, and railway construction was
pushed forward with such spirited energy that Kerma, at the head
of the cataracts, was gained in a short time. No great engineering
difficulties were offered because the desert is tolerably level, and
the sand provided a good foundation for the steel sleepers, or ties,
with the minimum of ballasting. The greater question was to maintain
the steady supply of requisite material southwards from Alexandria.
Yet an average speed of two miles per day was maintained, the rails
being laid for the most part by natives, assisted by both British and
Egyptians, under the military engineers.
The objective was Abu Hamed, where the Nile describes a big elbow, and
at that time this point was in the hands of the enemy. Its capture,
however, by the Anglo-Egyptian troops resulted in a speeding-up in
constructional work on the advancing railway, and the 80 miles of line
into this town were laid in about two months. Clinging to the east bank
of the river, it was driven southwards to Atbara, where a halt was
called, and where the headquarters were established for the Omdurman
campaign. Curiously enough, although the railway has reached the
capital of the Sudan, Atbara has not yet lost its importance from the
railway point of view, being the administration centre for the whole
Sudan Government railway system.
At this place the Nile is swelled by the waters of the Atbara River,
which flows in from the east. While the campaign was in progress
communication between the opposite banks was maintained by means
of a wooden bridge. As the river, however, is tempestuous when in
flood, during which period it rises to a high level, a more permanent
structure was demanded for the iron horse. The width of the waterway
called for the erection of over 1000 feet of steel bridging. When the
advance of the railhead was determined, it was decided to rush the
railway across the river before it once more rose in flood. Tenders
were invited, only to be received with dismay, because it was found
that the structure required was of such an elaborate character that no
English firm would undertake to complete it within two years.
[Illustration: CONSTRUCTION TRAIN ON THE WAY TO THE RAILHEAD CROSSING A
TEMPORARY TIMBER BRIDGE]
[Illustration:
_Photos by courtesy of A. L. Lawley, Esq._]
THE LONGEST BRIDGE IN AFRICA, 1,300 FEET IN LENGTH, ACROSS THE KAFUE
RIVER
THE CAPE TO CAIRO RAILWAY]
This upset official calculations severely, and accordingly fresh
tenders for a simpler type of bridge were called. The task was
thrown open to the world, and celerity of construction was the
primordial condition. The British firms re-tendered, but to their
disgust they were beaten hopelessly both in regard to the cost of the
structure and the time in which it could be erected by the American
engineers. The result was that the contract went to a Philadelphia
firm. Five weeks after the receipt of the order the steel-work left New
York, and within a further few weeks communication across the river was
provided by 7 spans of steel, each 147 feet long, resting on cast-iron
cylinders.
[Illustration:
[_See page 164_
THE “HANGING BRIDGE,” ONE OF THE RAILWAY ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE
DENVER AND RIO GRANDE, IN THE ROYAL GORGE OF COLORADO]
The most remarkable feature about this contract was the public outcry
that ensued. British methods were held up in comparison with American
hustle, much to the disparity of the former. British builders were
assailed as lethargic, wedded to obsolete methods, and consequently had
suffered the penalty of such conservatism by being beaten in a most
hollow manner. The same critics, however, failed to shriek so loudly
in acclamation a year later in appreciation of a British firm which
accomplished a feat which even startled the Americans. This was in
connection with a bridge of five spans, each 105 feet long, which was
turned out of a Midland shop to replace the structure which had been
destroyed by the Boers across the Tugela River in Natal. Both British
and American engineers were invited to tender, and the American firms,
despite their wonderful organisation, hustling methods, and their
remarkable facilities for accomplishing quick work, were dismayed to
find that they had been beaten by their British rivals as hollow as
the latter had been vanquished some months before. The successful firm
rolled 100 tons of steel, had it inspected, tested and passed by the
Natal Government engineer in eight hours. It had undertaken to deliver
the first span within six weeks of the receipt of the order--as a
matter of fact, it was completed within nineteen days. The Americans
themselves admitted that the British performance was wonderful, and
that complete revenge had been taken for the Atbara contract.
As the railway pushed its way towards Khartoum, the ranks of the
labourers were swelled by large numbers of dervishes, who had grown
disheartened at the result of their resistance to the British advance
on the northern borders of the Mahdi’s stronghold, had realised the
impotency of their efforts, and consequently had decided to throw in
their lot on the railway. The increased labour enabled the work to be
prosecuted even more energetically, though a certain amount of time was
lost in drilling this raw material into the mysteries of wielding the
white man’s tools.
When the dervishes first saw the locomotive they marvelled. Steam was
beyond their comprehension. They believed stoutly that the engine’s
boiler was packed with animals, and when the driver blew his whistle
many fled in complete terror. To them the agonising shriek of the
animal on wheels was more terrifying than the hail of lead from a Maxim
gun. Indeed, it is reported that one chief, when he saw a locomotive
puffing along slowly and laboriously with its load of cars, went so far
as to assail the British officers for their callous cruelty in making
so small a beast pull such a heavy, long load!
The Atbara bridge, after fulfilling all requirements for eleven years,
had to be reconstructed. It was not found strong enough to withstand
the heavy loads of to-day, for on the Sudan railway weights, lengths
and speeds of trains have increased strikingly during a decade. When
overhaul became imperative, an English firm secured the commission to
rebuild the American structure, and to-day there is nothing left of the
bridge which provoked such acrimonious discussion at the time of its
erection. Owing to the elaborate nature of the building operations a
temporary bridge had to be thrown across the river to carry the railway
traffic.
When Khartoum was gained another pause was unavoidable owing to the
necessity to cross the Blue Nile in order to continue southwards to
Sennar. This arm of the great Egyptian river is fickle, for in times
of flood it rushes along at some 11 miles an hour. The contract for
carrying the railway to the opposite bank was secured by the firm
entrusted with the overhauling of the Atbara bridge, and it is a noble
work of its class. The river being navigable, facilities had to be
provided to permit vessels to pass up and down. This end was met by
introducing an electrically operated rolling lift span working like
a drawbridge. To enable railway construction to be carried on while
the river was being negotiated a temporary timber bridge was thrown
across the waterway. While this was in progress the power of the waters
rushing through this tributary when in flood was emphasised in no
uncertain manner. A considerable quantity of scaffolding intended for
the support of the steel bridge during erection was torn up and hurried
down-stream.
When Sennar was gained, a deviation directly eastward was made in order
to gain El Obeid, which is the centre of the gum trade, one of the most
prosperous and expanding industries of the Upper Sudan. Owing to its
more convenient situation on the main river, Omdurman always has been
the market for this article, the supplies being conveyed across country
by camel caravan. It is generally considered that now El Obeid has
been gained by the railway, that the decadence of Omdurman is certain,
but though this may be inevitable up to a point, the town is always
bound to command a certain position of importance inasmuch as it is the
centre of a considerable pilgrim traffic.
On the advance to El Obeid the bridging of the White Nile had to be
carried out, and here again British engineering triumphed, for the
contract was awarded to the builders of the Khartoum bridge. This
firm, with these two Nile bridges and the Victoria Bridge across the
Zambesi, may be said to have imprinted their name indelibly in Africa
in connection with bridge-engineering. The point of crossing is Goz Abu
Guma, and owing to the erratic character of the White Nile its design
occupied considerable deliberation. This river is sluggish both in time
of flood and in the dry season. Indeed, it might be described as a
huge ditch. When low the water occupies a channel about 1,500 feet in
width, but in the wet season it sprawls across the country for a matter
of three miles or so.
It was decided, however, that the bridging of the normal channel would
suffice, the line being carried over the part subject to periodical
inundation upon well-built embankments. The over-water structure
comprises 9 steel spans each 146 feet in length, and one swing-bridge
span 245½ feet in length to permit navigation up- and down-river,
because the Sudan Development & Exploration Company maintain a
steamship service between Khartoum and Gondoroko, the head of
navigation on the Nile, 1,081 miles from Gordon’s city. The spans are 6
feet above the level of High Nile, and are supported on masonry piers
sunk in steel caissons, or cylinders, under the agency of compressed
air, to a depth ranging between 30 to 50 feet below low water.
Although the iron link has stretched beyond Khartoum to the south,
Alexandria and Cairo are not in through railway communication with the
capital of Sudan, 1,480 miles away. The Egyptian railways have their
most southerly outpost at Shellal, just below Assuan, which is about 24
hours’ journey from the Mediterranean seaboard by the White _de luxe_
express. The terminal of the Sudan system is at Haifa, just south of
the border between the two countries. The river Nile constitutes the
artery of communication between these two railway points, the steamer
occupying about 40 hours. This break in the iron chain possesses
distinct drawbacks, the most serious of which is transhipment between
steamer and railway. The expense and inconvenience of this route,
with its breaking bulk, reacted severely upon the Upper Sudan, and
accordingly the latter Government decided to secure an independent
outlet to the coast. There was only one means of accomplishing this
end, and that was to strike eastwards across country to gain the Red
Sea.
This was not a simple enterprise, especially under conditions which
did not lend themselves to the expenditure of a large sum of money.
An easy graded line was imperative, and the surveyors had to search
diligently for such a route, because a range of hills breaks away from
the northern edge of the Abyssinian plateau, to run parallel with the
coast-line of the Red Sea to the Gulf of Suez. Investigations along the
coast resulted in Suakin, 305 miles distant from Atbara, being selected
as the sea terminus, and the surveyors succeeded in securing a location
giving no banks heavier than one per cent., and with no curves of a
sharper radius than 1,155 feet.
As the constructional engineers were confronted with some heavy work
shortly after leaving Suakin, in order to overcome the coast range,
building was commenced from both ends of the line simultaneously. This
procedure, however, did not prove entirely satisfactory, owing to the
cost and delay in bringing material down from Alexandria to Atbara,
so when the engineers at the Suakin end had subjugated their obstacle
and the material could be landed easily from vessels and hurried to
the railhead, operations were suspended from Atbara. The remoteness of
Suakin, however, produced individual handicaps, the greatest of which
was in regard to labour. The scattered natives were given employment,
but as they were unfamiliar with the tools and methods they did not
prove successful, and large numbers of Egyptians who had toiled on the
other lines were shipped to the Red Sea terminus. They were housed in
military tents, and a stranger happening suddenly upon a railway camp
might have been pardoned for labouring under the impression that he had
alighted upon an invading army under canvas, because the tents were
pitched in such regular rows as to indicate military occupation.
The mountains occasioned some little anxiety owing to the damage that
was caused by wash-outs due to the heavy rain, but these were soon
mastered. This abundance of water later on gave place to extreme
scarcity, for when the constructional forces had penetrated the heart
of the desert, this commodity was found only with great difficulty and
by infinite labour.
Despite these drawbacks, however, the 305 miles of line were laid and
opened for traffic within the short space of 14 months, which testifies
to the high standard of the constructional organisation and the energy
with which the undertaking was pushed forward. The significance of
this branch from the Nile to the sea was revealed instantly, but
unfortunately it was realised that the terminal point on the coast
left much to be desired. Further investigation revealed a better site
for a harbour 50 miles north of Suakin, and this point, now known as
Port Sudan, is the terminus of the line, the harbour being equipped
with modern facilities for handling traffic between ship and railway.
The new port is connected by rail with Suakin, however, which is being
retained as an outlet.
The railway will creep gradually southwards along the bank of the White
Nile in all probability, but in the meantime the river will constitute
the artery of communication. The waterway abounds with sand-bars and
other obstructions to navigation which provide very little depth of
water in some places, but the Sudan Development & Exploration Company
have met this situation by the utilisation of steamers which draw
extremely little water and are able to pass through the shallows
in perfect safety. The Sudan Government also maintains a steamship
connection between Khartoum and Gondoroko. This water link is about
1000 miles in length, and the round trip occupies about 23 days. A few
years ago the possibility of being able to proceed so far up the river
under steam was feared to be impracticable, owing to the dense masses
of floating tangled masses of vegetation, or “sudd,” which blocked the
river. But this has been broken up and a clear fairway is maintained.
As a result, Uganda now has an outlet to the Mediterranean which can be
developed considerably as the northern extremities of that country are
opened up.
Unfortunately, beyond Gondoroko the river cannot be used, because for
about 100 miles--from Rejaf to Dufile--there is a continuous chain
of rapids. These two points therefore will be connected by railway
probably. When Dufile is gained the river can be used once more so far
as Lake Albert Nyanza, where the line from Cape Town would be met,
although there is a belief that the Sudan Government intends to push
the railway to a far more southern point.
It will be seen that although Rhodes’ great scheme was for a continuous
steel road from north to south, this idea has had to be modified in
order to meet unexpected conditions, which at the time of the railway’s
inception were not apparent. In reality one will travel from the “Cape
to Cairo” over a combined rail and water route longitudinally through
the continent. At the present moment one can cover the whole journey
by rail and water, except for a distance of about 600 miles, and this
gap is being closed rapidly. As the settlement of the country along
the line of communication becomes effected, and the heavy drawbacks
incidental to transhipment become more and more emphasised, there is
no doubt but that the water route will be superseded gradually by the
railway, so that in time the original idea will be consummated, and
trains will pass right through from the Cape to Cairo over a continuous
path of steel some 6000 miles in length.