British Foreign Office to the Consul-General of Egypt that British
subjects belonging to Sir Samuel Baker's expedition must not expect the
support of their government in the event of complications. The
enterprise was generally regarded as chimerical in Europe, with
hostility in Egypt, but with sympathy in America.

Those who have read "Ismailia" may have felt some despondency. Although
the slave-hunters were driven out of the territory under my command,
there were nevertheless vast tracts of country through which new routes
could be opened for the slave caravans to avoid the cruising steamers on
the White Nile, and thus defeat the government. The Sultan of Darfur
offered an asylum and a secure passage for all slaves and their captors
who could no longer venture within the new boundaries of Egypt. It was
evident that the result of the expedition under my command was a
death-blow to the slave trade, if the Khedive was determined to persist
in its destruction. I had simply achieved the success of a foundation
for a radical reform in the so-called commerce of the White Nile. The
government had been established throughout the newly-acquired
territories, which were occupied by military positions garrisoned with
regular troops, and all those districts were absolutely purged from the
slave-hunters. In this condition I resigned my command, as the first act
was accomplished. The future would depend upon the sincerity of the
Khedive, and upon the ability and integrity of my successor.

It pleased many people and some members of the press in England to
disbelieve the sincerity of the Khedive. He was accused of annexation
under the pretext of suppressing the vast organization of the White Nile
slave-trade. It was freely stated that an Englishman was placed in
command because an Egyptian could not be relied upon to succeed, but
that the greed of new territory was the actual and sole object of the