An Egyptian stamp which might have been included in the body of the present work is Fig. 398, a postage-due stamp issued in 1898. At that time the Egyptian postal regulations charged 3 milliemes for prepaid letters but double that sum (6 milliemes) for unpaid letters, from or to non-commissioned officers and men of the Egyptian Army in garrison on the frontier, as well as at Suakim and Tokar; the same tariff was applicable to soldiers taking part in the Expedition to the Sudan. In consideration of the fact that such soldiers would be most frequently in places where they would be unable to get postage stamps, the authorities decided that unpaid letters sent by them should only be liable to the single rate of 3 milliemes instead of the double rate of 6 milliemes. But as there was no postage-due stamp of 3 milliemes to use in collecting this sum, it was temporarily permitted to use a 2 millieme stamp, with half of another 2 millieme stamp divided diagonally, until the surcharged stamp (Fig. 398) 3 milliemes on 2 milliemes could be prepared and issued.

399

400     401

Sudan.—The first stamps of the Sudan were created by overprinting Egyptian stamps in 1897 for use at the Camp Post Office at Wadi Haifa, and at points south thereof, the overprint reading "SOUDAN" and repeated in Arabic characters. The first stamps of special design, the attractive "camel" issue, also have military associations, being designed by Colonel Stanton of the Oxford Light Infantry, depicting a camel rider, alleged to be a portrait of Slatin Pasha. The rider is carrying mail, and is armed with a rifle and two spears ([Fig. 399]). These stamps were overprinted for use of army officials either with the words "OFFICIAL-ARMY" as in [Fig. 400], or "Army Service" as in [Fig. 401]. Another interesting Sudanese military stamp design was used for the military telegraph service (Fig. 402).