§ MR. PIRIE (Aberdeen, N.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Government have any information as to the state of health of the native troops quartered at the present moment in the Soudan; whether it is the case that they are suffering to a great extent from cerebral fever, from which, even if the attack does not end fatally, the patient never permanently recovers; what has been the mortality amongst those troops since our 980 taking possession of the Soudan; and what is the percentage of deaths among those attacked by the cerebral fever?
§ MR. BRODRICKWe have received no detailed report as to the state of health of the native troops at present in the Soudan, but such Reports would naturally be addressed to the Egyptian and not to Her Majesty's Government. It is known that the troops operating on the Blue Nile have suffered severely from the climate there, and the Egyptian Army generally has been subjected to considerable strain during the last 12 months. Statistics as to mortality and sickness will be called for.