Their previous history under the Sultans would show
them fanatical. I have not found them the least so; in fact I think
them even less so than the Arabs of Cairo. If you got two years' leave
from H.M.'s Government, you would lose nothing. You know the position of
Darfur; its frontier through Wadi is only fifteen days from Lake Tchad.
On the other side of Lake Tchad you come on another sultanate, that of
Bowmon, and you then near the Gulf of Guinea. Darfur is healthy. You
will (D.V.) soon have the telegraph to your capital, El Tascher. If
the Khedive asks you, accept the post, and you will do a mint of good,
and benefit these poor people. You will also see working out curious
problems; you will see these huge tribes of Bedawins, to whom the Bedawin
tribes of Arabia are as naught; you will trace their history, etc.; and
you will open relations with Wadai Baginni, etc. I know that you have
much important work at the Consulate, with the ship captains, etc., and
of course it would not be easy to replace you; but it is not every day
you use your knowledge of Asiatics or of Arabia. Now is the time for
you to make your indelible mark in the world and in these countries.
You will be remembered in the literary world, but I would sooner be
remembered in Egypt as having made Darfur. I hope, if his Highness
writes to you, you will ask for two years' leave and take the post
as Governor-General. You are Commandant of Civil and Military and
Finance, and have but very little to do with me beyond demanding what
you may want.
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