HC Deb 14 May 1885 vol 298 c486
SIR FREDERICK MILNER

asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether, in view of the accounts, almost daily arriving in this Country from officers and others, as to the condition of some of our troops at Kurot and other places on the Upper Nile, he will ascertain the real facts of the case; whether his attention has been called to the letters published this week in the papers, both from officers, one of which described the men as dying off like rotten sheep; whether it is an unusually low Nile this year, and several weeks must elapse before the troops can be withdrawn; and, whether he will make a determined effort to send up, at any rate, the bare necessaries of life for the men?

THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTON

I have no reason to believe that such a state of things exists as the Question implies; but I have endeavoured, and shall continue to endeavour, to obtain all the information in my power on the subject. There are known to be ample supplies at Kurot and the neighbouring stations on the Upper Nile; and the troops will shortly be moving down the river upon still larger depôts.