There is no rest for the Egyptian Bondholder. King John
of Abyssinia thinks he must have a port on the Red Sea, and has refused to make peace unless one is conceded to him, He has even taken Colonel Gordon with him into the interior,, half as hostage, half as negotiator, until his demands are com- plied with. The Khedive has accordingly been compelled to. send reinforcements southwards, and may be compelled to wage. another war,—necessities for which he has apologised to his Council„ who admit that he is hardly treated. As, however, any expenses incurred must come out of the Bondholder, who only takes everything after the Administration has been pro- vided for, their regret is probably not very deep. Egypt this- year has ha,d "a good Nile," and but for the Bondholder, who sits on him like the Old Man of the Sea, the peasant might put by something against a had season. As it is, the officials will take all, and send one-sixth to Abyssinia and four-sixths to Paris and London, to pay extravagant interest on money only half of which was ever lent.
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