There is little room for doubt now that the Fourean-Lamy
expedition has perished utterly in the Soudan. Its com- mandant, who was greatly trusted, made an effort to cross the Touareg region, and in so doing roused the jealous sus- picion of the tribe, the cuirassiers of the desert. They assembled in thousands, they were assisted by one of their own people who had professed friendship for the French, but led them into an ambuscade, and they slaughtered the invaders to a man. The French Colonial Office still professes to have no intelligence, but that is its way of breaking un- pleasant news to an excitable population. Recent events have obviously made a deep impression upon the Office, for orders have been issued to all the Governments in French Africa to abstain from seeking expansions by conquest, and to acquire new territories, if at all, by treaty or persuasion. The order may have been prompted by the Treasury, which has to find money for Colonial deficits, and does not want to be taxed every three months for an expedition, which sometimes suc- ceeds and sometimes fails, but always increases the immediate charges of the Department. It has, however, greatly irritated the Colonial party.
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