Introduction
In an Introduction to Sir Sidney Low’s study of Egypt in Transition (1914), Lord Cromer (1841-1917), former Consul-General of Egypt, humbly recalled how momentous decisions were taken by men who knew next to nothing about the peoples and societies they were dealing with. But more dangerous by far were the decisions taken by men who had been thoroughly briefed by the Foreign Office.
I HAVE been informed on good authority that a few years ago an English gentleman paid a visit to a high official of the Sudanese Government resident at Khartum,* and, as a preliminary to a searching interrogatory on a number of points of great public interest, stated that he had just arrived and that his intention was ‘to get at the very heart and soul of the people of the Sudan.’ The official in question was naturally rather staggered at the declaration of a programme of such far-reaching ambition, all the more so because he had himself passed many toilsome years in the country, in the course of which he had made strenuous efforts to understand the habits and aspirations of its inhabitants, but did not feel at all confident of the degree of success which he had attained. He therefore anxiously inquired of the newcomer how long a time he intended to devote to the accomplishment of his self-imposed task. The reply given by this ardent seeker after Sudanese truth was that he proposed to leave Khartum by the train on the following Friday morning.*
* In 1885, the Sudan was separated from Egyptian (and effectively British) control by Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi, who compassed the death of British General Charles Gordon at The Siege of Khartoum. The Battle of Omdurman in 1898 regained Sudan for Egypt, and from 1899 to 1956 it was ruled from Cairo as Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Lord Cromer, who had been Controller-General in Egypt from 1878 to 1879, subsequently served as Consul-General of Egypt from 1883 to 1907; his Introduction to Sir Sidney Low’s Egypt in Transition was published in 1914.
* Khartoum joined the Sudan’s 3ft 6in gauge railway network (begun to aid General Herbert Kitchener’s military response to the Mahdi) on December 31st, 1899, when tracks winding their way south from Wadi Halfa, Abu Hamad and Atbarah finally reached the city. In the 1900s, Khartoum was further linked eastwards to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, and southwards to Sannar. To this day, the Sudanese system is not connected to the networks of Egypt or any other country; plans for a link between Cairo and Khartoum fell through in 2010, but were revived in 2018.
Précis
Lord Cromer, some years after his retirement from colonial government in Egypt, recalled the story of a British politician who had presented himself before a senior official in the Sudan. He declared that he meant to gain a thorough understanding of the country and its people, and added reassuringly that he quite expected to be finished by the following Friday. (60 / 60 words)
Lord Cromer, some years after his retirement from colonial government in Egypt, recalled the story of a British politician who had presented himself before a senior official in the Sudan. He declared that he meant to gain a thorough understanding of the country and its people, and added reassuringly that he quite expected to be finished by the following Friday.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, if, just, must, otherwise, since, until, whether.
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