The Government is not sufficiently prompt, and should send more
light cavalry. Time is everything now ; by the middle of August Arabi will have flooded the country, and Arabi's army will be greatly profited by the Egyptian cavalry. As regards the military situation, the English have taken and fortified Ramleh, to the east of the harbour of Alexandria, and have blown up a portion of the railway by which Arabi might bring troops down upon Ramleh. On the other hand, the forts of Aboukir, further east again,—at the end of the spit of land running from the Lake Mareotis to the Bay of Aboukir,—though reported to be loyal to Tewfik, have refused to surrender to him, and rejected his proclamation, so that they will have to be reduced by our Fleet. Arabi is said to have gathered a large force at Kairdowar, now amounting to some 50,000 strong, but his men do not seem to show much fight. Their attempts to prevent the English from occupying Ramleh were feeble in the extreme. The water in the Mahmoudieh Canal is sinking very fast, and it is greatly feared that Alexandria will soon be suffer- ing from the horrors of a water famine under a semi-tropical sun.
