Page:The empire and the century.djvu/910

 a rival in the possession of the sources and upper course of the Nile might have opportunities of seriously injuring the territories which depend on its rise and fall. Uganda has another aspect which is important for Egypt and the Sudan. It is a Christian native state. Probably in no part of the world have the efforts of missionaries met with such rapid and thorough success. Elementary education and a taste for European civilization are generally diffused; and if all the inhabitants are not really Christians, it may be said, without exaggeration, that those who are not are regarded by the others as backward and barbarous. The country has definitely thrown in its lot with Christianity, and—here is the point—it is anti-Mohammedan. It is, therefore, not likely to originate any fanatical movement, and forms a barrier against the spread of any such movement southwards. In view of the power which Islam has shown of spreading among African races, and the damage done on the Upper Nile by the Khalifa and the Dervishes, the existence of this Christian state must be regarded as a great guarantee for the preservation of peace.

Looking southwards, the importance of Uganda for all projects of opening up communications between the north and south of the continent is obvious. It lies on the highroad from the Cape to Cairo and in the middle of the road. The objections to making a railway between these points are two. As things are, there is no prospect of any traffic at all commensurate to the cost of construction; and, secondly, this construction is likely to encounter serious difficulties in the southern Sudan, where the line must either make a considerable diversion from the direct route, or else pass through marshes, where the necessary works will be enormously costly, if not impracticable. Nothing, however, is more likely to stimulate traffic and the need of communication than the development of Uganda and the establishment in its neighbourhood of colonies of Europeans connected with South Africa by business interests. The fact that such colonists from South Africa are