THE
ISTHMUS OF SUEZ QUESTION.

THE
ISTHMUS OF SUEZ
QUESTION.

BY
M. FERDINAND DE LESSEPS,
MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY.

“APERIRE TERRAM GENTIBUS.”

LONDON:
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS.
PARIS:
GALIGNANI AND CO.
1855.

CONTENTS.

Explanation of the French Monies, Weights, and Measures used in the following pages.

The figures following the denomination are decimal parts; thus: 7 fr. 25, 6 met. 50 represent respectively 7¼ francs, 6½ metres.

THE ISTHMUS OF SUEZ QUESTION
SUBMITTED TO THE PUBLIC OPINION OF ENGLAND.

“Aperire terram gentibus.”

In the month of October, 1854, I left Europe for Egypt, in consequence of an invitation I had received from the new Viceroy, Mohammed Saïd, who for twenty years has honoured me with his friendship. I had no mission from my Government. It was in the course of a journey across the Libyan desert from Alexandria to Cairo which I made in company with the Prince, that the question of cutting through the Isthmus of Suez, was for the first time mooted between us. He requested me to draw up a memorial on the subject, ([Appendix, No. 1]) and, as my ideas met with his approbation, he issued to the Consuls General of foreign powers a firman ([Appendix, No. 2]), destined to receive the sanction of the Sultan, granting to a company composed of the capitalists of all nations without distinction, the right to construct a canal between the two Seas. Mr. Bruce, the agent of the British Government, was the first of the Consuls General who was informed of the Viceroy’s project, so that France and England received intimation of it at the same time.

MM. Linant Bey and Mougel Bey, engineers, who have been engaged, the one for the last twenty, the other for the last thirty years, in the construction of important hydraulic works in Egypt, were appointed by the Viceroy to accompany me in an exploring expedition to the Isthmus of Suez, and to complete, by a fresh examination of the ground, the investigations they had already made.

This expedition was made during last December and January; after presenting an account of it to His Highness Mohammed Saïd, I gave instructions ([Appendix, No. 3]), in his name, to the engineers, calculated to assist them in the preparation of their report.

In the month of March, MM. Linant Bey and Mougel Bey delivered the precursory scheme ([Appendix, No. 4]), which quite convinced the Viceroy of the possibility of executing this great undertaking in which he has taken the initiative. They establish by calculations and data, which may be verified by any one, that a maritime canal direct from Suez to Pelusium thirty leagues long, one hundred metres wide, and eight metres deep, extending sufficiently far into the two seas by means of jetties, to obtain the depth necessary to enable ships to enter without difficulty, having an inland port in the natural basin of Lake Timsah, and which should be completed in six years, would cost, at the most, 160,000,000 francs, (£6,400,000); or, about half the amount expended on the Great Northern railway from London to York, or on that between Paris and Lyons.

In a journey that I made to Constantinople,[1] I ascertained that the Sultan and his ministers were favourable to the project, and I delivered to the Viceroy a letter from the Grand Vizier, in which he aptly characterized the opening of the Isthmus of Suez by a maritime canal as a work of the most useful and interesting character. ([Appendix, No. 5.]) His Highness immediately transmitted to the Divan, the documents, maps, and plans necessary for understanding the question of construction, and which were required for obtaining the sanction of the Sovereign.

I was then commissioned to return to Europe for the purpose of calling public attention to the subject and to take measures for organizing the undertaking, on a cosmopolitan basis in accordance with the principles which have from the commencement guided the projectors.

Prince Mohammed Saïd has declared in his instructions ([Appendix, No. 6]), that the labours of his engineers, who at this moment are engaged in preparing their definitive scheme, shall be submitted to the judgment of engineers, chosen from England, from France, from Holland, from Germany, and from Italy; and that the organization of the Universal Company entrusted with the construction of the Canal shall be based upon the scientific decision of Europe.

Until then no call will be made on the shareholders, and, the administration of the Company being in the hands of capitalists and other persons of all nations, in proportion to the relative commercial importance of their country, they will not support the undertaking unless they are convinced that it will be to their interest to do so.

As England is evidently interested more than any other power in the construction of a canal through the Isthmus of Suez, my first step has been to come to London, both in order to ascertain the state of public opinion in England on this question, and also to give to all who desire it such information as will enable them fully to appreciate the moral and material aspects of the undertaking.

I have already remarked with satisfaction that, in general, men of intelligence with whom I have had the honour of conversing on the subject, do not admit that an event which would advance the interests of the whole world, could possibly do injury to the power or commerce of England. They frankly discard all idea of a prejudice against the project; they assert on the contrary, that if feasible their country cannot but gain by it, and that it would be a source of regret if the idea were entertained in France that what would be beneficial to other countries should not be of equal benefit to England.

Objections, however, which to my mind, I am proud to acknowledge, do honour to the candour of English politicians, have been made, in perfectly good faith, and without any feeling of distrust towards a friendly nation, the alliance with which, cemented by the blood of their brave armies, has been recently sanctioned by the unanimous demonstration of the English people, as it will shortly be by the people of France.

I shall reproduce these objections, and reply to them in very few words.

I begin by setting aside all those which relate to the supposed impossibility of execution, and to the idea that the canal can only be constructed at an expenditure out of proportion to the advantages reasonably to be expected.

If the canal should be found to be physically impossible, of course the scheme will not be entertained, and if European science should not make it clear that the advantages to be derived are commensurate with the expenses to be incurred, capitalists will not come forward.

The report of the engineers replies triumphantly to other objections respecting the sands of the desert, the alluvial deposits at Pelusium and Suez, and the navigation of the Red Sea.

It has been affirmed that the project of a canal might retard the construction of a railway from Alexandria to Suez, which the policy of England has always considered essential to her Indian interests.

Far from being retarded by the canal project, the railway will, on the contrary, be indebted to this very design, for its speedy completion; for it can only obtain sufficient returns from the activity occasioned by a considerable maritime commerce across the Isthmus of Suez. The Egyptian Government, which has already completed, at its own expense, the first two sections of the railway, viz., from Alexandria to the Nile, and from the Nile to Cairo, takes this view of the question, and is at the same time desirous of giving satisfaction to England, whose main object is to secure for her despatches and travellers the most direct and speedy route. The Viceroy, being thus persuaded, that of the two undertakings, the railway and the canal, each forms the complement of the other, has just decided on the completion of the third section, from Cairo to Suez. He has given the order for the rails to an English house, and engineers are at this moment engaged in levelling and in the superintendence of the earth-works.

It has also been said that if a considerable number of European workmen, or agricultural labourers, were taken to the Isthmus of Suez, there would be some fear of their forming a colony of natives of one single country—of France for instance—which might have a prejudicial effect on the policy of England. In the first place, there is no motive for a universal company to employ, for a special political object, workmen of any one country in preference to those of any other. Again, it is not necessary to demonstrate that a company of capitalists will attend to their own interests, and they will certainly have an incontestable advantage in employing Egyptians only, as workmen and agricultural labourers. The fellah of Egypt has alone constructed, under the direction of skilful and experienced engineers and foremen, all the extensive works undertaken in that country, and no nation can more easily, or on more favourable terms, furnish disciplined armies, of robust, active, and intelligent workmen, equally fit for the construction of canals, for hydraulic and for agricultural operations.[2]

But what is of greater moment, and indeed alone deserves the consideration of a people who have the fortunate custom of interesting themselves in their political affairs, is the apprehension conscientiously entertained by statesmen, whose right and whose duty it is to ask themselves and maturely to consider:—

1. Whether shortening the distance by 3000 leagues for all the countries of Northern Europe, and by 3400 leagues on an average for the ports of the Mediterranean, including Malta, may not in future, in case of war, menace the safety of the British possessions in India.

2. Whether the commercial and maritime relations of Great Britain will not be disadvantageously affected by the opening of a new route, which, while shortening the distance for her own navigation, will at the same time facilitate and increase the navigation of all other nations towards the extreme East.

The following passage from a recent publication replies to these objections:—

“The power in possession of Aden opens and shuts at its will the Red Sea, and if it is true that the influence of nations and governments chiefly depends on the good they can do to their friends and the harm they can do to their enemies, that revolution would be of no slight advantage to England which would lead the principal current of the world’s commerce under the guns of her ships and the batteries of her fortresses. Besides, is it from the naval armaments of the Mediterranean that England has most reason to fear an invasion of India? It requires no more than ordinary foresight to perceive, that if her Indian possessions were ever seriously threatened, it could only be from Russia by land, and from North America by sea. In either case, the safety of her possessions would depend on the shortening of her line of operations.

“India is not the only British possession to which the route will be abridged by the passage viâ Suez. Australia will profit no less by the change; and it will be all the more necessary to facilitate the defence of that country, as it will become, if the cutting through of the Isthmus of Panama be effected, more accessible to the ships of war of the United States.

“We may conclude from these observations, that there would be small risk of the opening of the Isthmus of Suez weakening the military power of Great Britain. Her commercial power could only be compromised by it, if it were possible for the multiplicity of her transactions with the East Indies to be decreased by shortening the intervening distance by 3000 leagues, or if it were possible for the producers and sellers of the commodities of the extreme East to lose by the consumption of them in Europe being doubled.

“If England must gain by the opening of the Isthmus an increase of military and commercial power, the genius of calculation within her will soon triumph over an ill-considered opposition. She will not sacrifice the positive elevation, the basis of which is enlarged by the developement of what surrounds it, to that relative elevation which is satisfied with the degradation of others, and she will not give any one the right to attribute to her, with regard to all the nations bordering on the Mediterranean, the language lately addressed by the Emperor Nicholas to the English Minister on the subject of Greece, and of the East. Such a policy she leaves to its fitting home. She does more, she opposes it by force of arms. Convinced that her strength lies in her power of expansion, and in her commercial capabilities, she endeavours by the prosperity of her neighbours to enlarge the basis of her own, and for this reason it is that she animates with her co-operation so many enterprises which enrich the Continent; no undertaking that she has ever assisted will prove more productive of beneficial results to herself than the operations at the Isthmus of Suez.”

To the preceding quotation, which is conclusive, I add some figures which also have their value.

The Mediterranean ports will profit, it is true, by the opening of the Isthmus of Suez, but England with the 5,000,000 tons employed in her commerce—a tonnage greater than that of all the navies of Europe, including France, united—cannot fail to profit in a much greater degree by the increase of relations which must necessarily result from the shortening of the distance between the points of traffic; to this opening moreover she will be indebted for the inestimable advantage of finding herself in closer connection with her colonies, than another nation whose competition might otherwise be really formidable in the eyes of the upholders of an exclusive system.

But on the contrary, England, adopting the policy of commercial freedom, has been seen to favour the attempts which have been made to cut through the American Isthmus, although, if successful, it would bring the United States nearer the British possessions in India and still nearer to Australia. She is not, however, ignorant of the fact that the maritime commerce of the United States, which twenty years ago employed only 1,000,000 tons, now, in 1854, requires no less than 5,400,000, and that this vast tonnage, already larger than her own, is constantly increasing. But England on her part does not remain at a stand-still, and she has done well in showing no fear of the contest. The law of progress has been justified by official statistical documents. The burthen of the English ships built in 1842 was 130,000 tons; in 1843, shipping to the amount of 203,000 tons was built. It is especially since the relations of the United States with the Indian Seas have been extended, that the commerce of Great Britain has in those very regions experienced a still farther developement. Thus, the imports from the Indian Peninsula, which in 1849 amounted to £9,238,000, had in 1853 increased to £13,610,000. Those from China, which in 1849 were £6,200,000, rose in 1853, to £8,300,000. Again, the tonnage employed in the trade between Great Britain and her Eastern possessions, including the other countries in the Indian Seas, to and fro, amounted in 1849 to 967,076, and in 1853 to 1,595,138 tons.

It may perhaps not be superfluous to reply to those persons who still believe in the supposed monopoly which they think it advisable for England to retain in her commerce with the East; we have just seen that there is in fact no such monopoly as far as the United States are concerned, and that England does not suffer from the want of it. It is the same with respect to Europe. This state of things has a tendency to increase every day, even with the existing means of communication by the Cape of Good Hope and the imperfect transit through Egypt. Marseilles, Bordeaux, Havre, Genoa, Trieste, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Hamburg, all despatch vessels direct to the Indies. Marseilles and Trieste now receive, viâ Egypt, cases of indigo from India and bales of silk goods from China. Powerful companies, in anticipation of peace, are at this moment engaged in building ships expressly for trading to the East, or else in devoting to that purpose the steamers and sailing vessels now used as transports in the Black Sea.

Other objections have been made, and as they have been seriously brought forward, I cannot allow them to pass without remark. Some very modest Englishmen have compared their country to Venice, and have contended, that if Venice lost her power by the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, England would see hers decline by a return to the shortest route. In the first place, the shortest route is a geographical fact which no one can get rid of, and, from the moment that it is ascertained that no material obstacle prevents the opening of this direct line, it will not be for any Government, much less for the one which has inaugurated the era of commercial freedom, to oppose the realization of a work which will satisfy the interests of all. Then, Great Britain in the nineteenth century cannot be compared to Venice in the fifteenth: the latter, in consequence of her defeats in 1291 and 1298, had been obliged to cede the supremacy to Genoa, and, after having still shone in the first rank when she put herself at the head of the league against Charles VIII. (1495), finally lost her preponderance when the Portuguese destroyed her fleets in the Red Sea, and the Emperor, the Pope and the kings of France and Aragon formed the league of Cambray against her (1508). It would be useless to prove by historical evidence that the decline of the Queen of the Adriatic was due to other causes than the discovery of the Cape (1497), by which she might have profited as well as the Portuguese, if she had had the same elements of strength and vitality. Trieste, which has succeeded to her commercial prosperity, and even surpassed it, has had no need of the re-establishment of the ancient route to India. If Trieste participates largely, as is to be hoped, in the advantages of the Isthmus Company, if her neighbour of the Adriatic finds therein a new life, Great Britain will lose nothing thereby. Has it ever been seen that a capital city, brought into communication with a great market by a railroad, has had to regret the shortening of the distance and the amelioration of its own relations, because some secondary towns on the line were nearer to the market and participated in the common benefit?

Marseilles, Trieste, Greece, the ports of Italy, of Spain and of Turkey, are nearer to Egypt than London and Liverpool. Well; in the present state of the relations of Europe with Alexandria, England absorbs to herself alone half the value of the commerce between all other countries and Egypt, and her tonnage comprises two-thirds of the navigation to and fro under all flags.

I wrote the following from Cairo, December 3rd, 1854, to a friend of mine, a member of the British Parliament.

“Some persons assert that the Viceroy of Egypt’s project will meet with opposition in England. I cannot believe it: your statesmen are too enlightened for me to entertain such a supposition under present circumstances. What! England herself transacts more than half the general commerce with India and China; she has an immense empire in Asia; she may reduce by one-third the charges on her commerce, and bring that Eastern Empire nearer by one-half; and she would not allow it to be done. Wherefore? To prevent the Mediterranean nations from taking advantage of their situation to increase their commerce in the Eastern Seas,—she would deprive herself of the immense advantages which must accrue to her, in material respects, and in a political point of view, from this new communication, solely because others are more favourably situated than herself, as if geographical position was all-in-all, and as if, everything considered, England had not more to gain by this work than all the nations together. Finally, England, it is said, must dread the reduction in the number of vessels employed in Indian commerce which would result from the diminution of more than one-third in the duration of the voyage. And has not England proved in her experience of railways, by results which have surpassed the boldest anticipations, that the necessary consequence of shortening the distance and diminishing the duration of a journey, is the infinite augmentation of intercourse and circulation. One cannot understand why those who entertain this fear do not advise the English Government to direct, that the voyage to India now shall be viâ Cape Horn, for that would employ still more ships than the way by the Cape of Good Hope and furnish better sailors.

“If, as is not unlikely, the difficulties with which I am threatened should be brought forward, public opinion, so powerful in England, will soon do justice to interested opposition and superannuated objections.”

Her Majesty’s Government concluded with the United States, on the 19th of April, 1850, a treaty of neutrality for the projected canal through the American Isthmus. The cabinets of London and Paris are now on such intimate terms as to make it a matter of no difficulty for them to agree upon a convention, if it suited their political interests to do so, relative to the passage of the Isthmus of Suez, assimilating it to that of the Dardanelles. The other powers would not fail to give in their adhesion to the convention, which would be open to them.

In this manner commercial navigation would be guaranteed against the chances of war, and military armaments could neither remain in nor pass through the Isthmus without the permission of the Sovereign of the country.

The question of the importance to the commercial interests of Great Britain of cutting through the Isthmus of Suez, has been considered in the most favourable light by the principal men of science, engineers, economists, and public writers of England. I shall quote hereafter the opinions of Mr. Anderson, the present director of the Peninsular and Oriental Company, and of Captain James Vetch, R. E., from their respective works. ([Appendix, Nos. 8 and 9.]) The fact of the question having been frequently treated with favour by the press, seems to show that it has already been accepted by the feeling of the country; the remarkable extract from the “Papers for the People” in the memorial of the engineers ([Appendix, No. 4]) will be read with interest. The celebrated novelist, Charles Dickens himself, has not disdained to devote several eloquent pages to a very practical consideration of the project for constructing a canal through the Isthmus of Suez.

It is to be remarked that the English authors who have written upon this question, have, without exception, advocated the direct line from Suez to Pelusium. This view is taken by all the inhabitants of Egypt, and I doubt if the indirect line, complicated as it is by traversing the Nile, would have been adopted by two of my compatriots so distinguished as M. Baude and M. Paulin Talabot, if they had themselves been on the spot before they gave their opinions.

The Moniteur Universel of France, in the Number for the 6th of July, has proved the advantage of the direct track over the indirect one. I refer my readers to that article ([Appendix, No. 9]).

It is incumbent on me to add, that, although the two tracks may be entertained, theoretically speaking, practically only one is now to be thought of; for the Viceroy of Egypt, who consents to the cutting of the Isthmus, has a perfect right to refuse to allow the whole of Egypt to be cut through. He has, in his written instructions, specially charged me to make known his declaration, which is in the following terms:—

“After having passed in review the numerous projects submitted to various Governments or to the public for more than fifty years, I grant perfect liberty for the application of those means that science shall recognise to be best to bring the Red Sea and the Mediterranean into communication at any point of the Isthmus, eastward of the course of the Nile; but I declare that I will not authorize the Grand Maritime Suez Canal Company to adopt any track which shall have its point of departure on the Mediterranean coast, to the west of the Damietta branch, and which shall traverse the course of the Nile.”

If it were necessary, reference might be made to the East India Company, the merchants of Australia, of Singapore, of Madras, of Calcutta and of Bombay, the commercial houses of the City, the shipowners of London and Liverpool, the manufacturers of Manchester, the proprietors of iron mines, the manufacturers of machines, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, the directors of banks and of extensive industrial undertakings, the Chambers of Commerce, the proprietors of coal-fields, who in 1854 exported 1,309,251 tons of coal, of the value of £2,127,156, an amount which, immense as it already is, will be still farther increased, and to a considerable extent, by the opening of the Isthmus of Suez.

I appeal to their interests, and leave the decision to their judgment.

Lastly, the objection has been made, that the canal project would not be received with favour by the Turkish Government; but, like every question in which the principle is just, the consequences are infallible; and from whatever point of view we regard this question of the Isthmus of Suez, we see nothing but universal benefit arise from it.

As I have already remarked, I met with no opposition at Constantinople on the part of the Porte. Turkey is aware that the Canal of the two Seas is destined to add to her power and prosperity, by bringing Constantinople nearer by 4300 leagues to the Indian Ocean, and by facilitating the communication with the Holy Places of Arabia, the source of the authority the Sultan possesses over his Mussulman population.

Turkey can rise from her present languor only by borrowing capital and intelligence from Europe. The prosperity of the East is intimately connected at the present day with the interests of civilization in general, and the most effectual means of working its welfare, in connection with that of humanity, is to break down the barriers that still separate individuals, races, and nations.

War and commerce have civilized the world. War will have played out its part with that last effort which is being made under our eyes. The victories hereafter to be gained will be those of commerce only. Let us exert ourselves to open up for her a new route. This object may be pursued and attained—in the words of a great writer—“A travers les orages et les ténèbres de la guerre.” (Guizot.)

Let us bring the populations of Polynesia, of Australia and China, of the Indies and of Africa, nearer to Europe; let us make them participators in the blessings of civilization.

To accomplish this great undertaking, we appeal to all religious and intelligent men, for it is worthy of their sympathy and co-operation.

We invoke the support of all statesmen, because in the establishment of new and easy means of communication between the two hemispheres all nations are interested. Lastly, we will address ourselves to the capitalists, when they have satisfied themselves of the pecuniary advantages to be derived from the undertaking.

Ferd. de Lesseps.

London, July, 1855.

APPENDIX.
No. I.
MEMORIAL ADDRESSED TO HIS HIGHNESS MOHAMMED SAID.

MEMORIAL ADDRESSED TO HIS HIGHNESS MOHAMMED SAID, VICEROY OF EGYPT.

The Camp, Marea, In the Lybian Desert,
15th November, 1854.

The junction of the Mediterranean and the Red Seas, by a navigable canal, is an undertaking the utility of which has attracted the attention of all the great men who have reigned in, or conquered, Egypt: Sesostris, Alexander the Great, Julius Cæsar, the Arab Conqueror Amrou, Napoleon I. and Mehemet Ali.

A canal, communicating with the Nile, was in existence in ancient times; first, for a period of 100 years, down to about the middle of the ninth century before the Hegira; secondly, for a period of 445 years, from the reign of the first successors of Alexander the Great, down to about the fourth century before the Hegira; thirdly and lastly, for a period of 130 years after the Arabian conquest.

Napoleon, upon his arrival in Egypt, immediately organized a commission of engineers to ascertain whether it would be possible to re-establish that ancient channel of navigation: the question was resolved in the affirmative, and when the learned M. Lepère delivered to him the report of the commission, on the eve of his return to France, he said: “It is an important affair, it is not now in my power to accomplish it, but the Turkish Government will perhaps one day owe its preservation and its glory to the execution of this project.”

The moment has now arrived to realize Napoleon’s prediction. The work of cutting through the Isthmus of Suez is certainly destined, more than any other, to contribute to the preservation of the Ottoman Empire, and to demonstrate to those who have been wont to proclaim its decay and ruin, that it still has a productive existence, and that it is capable of adding a brilliant page to the history of the world’s civilization.

Why have the governments and the peoples of the West combined to uphold the Sultan in the possession of Constantinople, and why has he who has thought fit to menace that position met with the armed opposition of Europe? Because the passage from the Mediterranean into the Black Sea is of so much importance, that whatever European Power might become master of it would domineer over all the rest, and destroy that balance which the whole world is interested in preserving.

Do but establish at another point of the Ottoman Empire a similar, and a yet more important position; do but make Egypt the highway of the commercial world by cutting through the Isthmus of Suez; and thereby you will create in the East another immoveable seat of power; for, as far as the new passage is concerned, the great powers of Europe, from fear of seeing it one day seized upon by one amongst them, will regard the necessity of guaranteeing its neutrality, as a question of vital importance.

M. Lepère fifty years ago required 10,000 workmen, four years’ labour, and from 30 to 40,000,000 francs for the construction of the Suez Canal, but upon a plan which would now be insufficient for the demands of commerce and navigation; and his idea was the possibility of a direct cutting through the Isthmus towards the Mediterranean.

Prior to the year 1840, some skilful English Engineers, who were employed in levelling operations in the Isthmus, had the honour of first ascertaining that no difference existed between the levels of low water in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf of Arabia.

M. Paulin Talabot, one of the three distinguished Engineers chosen in 1847 by a society for the investigation of the Isthmus of Suez,[3] (and who also had important operations in levelling executed by M. Bourdaloue,) had adopted the indirect route from Alexandria to Suez: availing himself of the barrage for the passage of the Nile, he estimated the entire cost at 130,000,000 francs for the Canal, and 20,000,000 for the port and roadstead of Suez.

M. Linant Bey, who for the last thirty years has ably conducted canal works in Egypt, has made the question of the Canal of the two Seas the study of his life on the spot itself. He was appointed in 1853 to direct fresh levelling operations, and has proposed to cut through the Isthmus in an almost direct line at its narrowest part, establishing a large inland port in the basin of Lake Timsah, and making the channels from Pelusium, and from Suez, into the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, available for the largest vessels.

The General of engineers, Gallice Bey, on his part, submitted to Mehemet Ali a proposal for a direct cutting across the Isthmus. M. Mougel Bey, director of the Nile barrage-works, and chief engineer of bridges and highways, also submitted to Mehemet Ali the possibility and utility of cutting through the Isthmus of Suez; and, in 1840, at the request of Count Walewsky, at that time an envoy in Egypt, he was instructed to take preliminary measures which political events did not allow to be carried out.

A thorough examination will decide which of the lines is most suitable; and, as the undertaking has been acknowledged to be practicable, it only remains to make a choice. Whatever the operations that may be necessary, and however difficult, they will not intimidate modern art; their success can be no matter of doubt at the present time: it is a question of money, which the spirit of enterprise and association will not fail to resolve, provided the benefits resulting from it are in proportion to the outlay.

It is easy to demonstrate that the cost of the Canal of Suez, admitting the highest estimate, is not out of proportion with the utility and the profits of this important work, which would curtail by more than one-half the distance of India from the principal countries of Europe and America. This result is made obvious in the following Table, drawn up by M. Cordier, professor of Geology:—

LIST OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN PORTS.

With such figures before us, comment is useless; they show that all the nations of Europe, and even the United States of America, are alike interested in the opening of the canal of Suez, as well as in the rigorous and inviolable neutrality of that thoroughfare.

Mohammed Saïd clearly comprehends that there is no undertaking within his power, which, from its immensity and the utility of its results, could bear comparison with that which I propose to him. What a splendid title to fame for him! What an everlasting source of wealth for Egypt!

The pilgrimage to Mecca henceforth assured and facilitated to all Mussulmans; an immense impulse given to steam navigation and to distant voyages; the countries on the coasts of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Persia, the eastern coast of Africa, India, the kingdom of Siam, Cochin China, Japan, the vast empire of China, with its more than 300,000,000 of inhabitants, the Philippine Islands, Australia and that immense Archipelago, towards which the emigration from old Europe is directed, brought nearer by nearly 3000 leagues to the Mediterranean Sea and the north of Europe: such are the sudden and immediate effects of cutting through the Isthmus of Suez.

It has been calculated that the European and American navigation, viâ the Cape of Good Hope and viâ Cape Horn, may carry on a yearly traffic of 6,000,000 tons, and that on the half only of that tonnage the world’s commerce would realize a benefit of 150,000,000 francs annually, by sending the ships viâ the Gulf of Arabia.

There is no doubt that the canal of Suez will occasion a considerable increase of tonnage; but in reckoning only upon 3,000,000 tons, there will yet be an annual produce of 30,000,000 francs by collecting dues of ten francs per ton, which might be reduced in proportion to the increase of navigation.

After having indicated the financial advantages of the undertaking, let us consider its general political advantages, which we believe to be equally incontestable.

Everything that results in contributing to the extension of the commerce, of the industry, and of the navigation of the world, is especially advantageous to England, a power which stands foremost amongst all others from the importance of its navy, from the productions of its manufactories, and from its commercial relations.

A deplorable prejudice, based upon the political antagonism which so long and so unhappily existed between France and England, has alone accredited the opinion that the opening of the canal of Suez, so useful for the interests of civilization and of the common weal, could damage those of England. The alliance of the two nations which rank highest in the scale of civilization, an alliance which has already proved the possibility of solutions hitherto reckoned impossible by vulgar tradition, will, amongst its other numerous benefits, allow us to investigate with impartiality this mighty question of the Canal of Suez, to form an exact estimate of its influence upon the prosperity of nations and to consider it heresy to believe, that an undertaking calculated to halve the distance between the Western and Eastern hemispheres of the globe, should not be suitable for Great Britain, the mistress of Gibraltar, Malta, the Ionian Islands, Aden, important stations on the east coast of Africa, India, Singapore, and Australia.

England, as well as France, and even more so, must wish to see a cutting through that strip of land of thirty leagues, which no one who pays attention to the subject of civilization and progress can behold upon the map, without feeling the most ardent wish for the disappearance of that only obstacle that Providence has left in the highway of the world’s traffic.

The railway, by itself, is not sufficient; it will never acquire any substantial importance, and will only be assured of its revenues when it has become the auxiliary of the maritime Canal of Suez. The completion of the railway, so useful to travellers, and so justly desired by England, will then become a necessity, and will no longer be a heavy charge upon the Egyptian Government.

Germany will also hail all the efforts for the construction of the Canal across the Isthmus. It will be to her the complement to the free navigation of the Danube. Prince Metternich, who for more than twenty years has interested himself in the cutting of the Canal of the two Seas, and Baron de Bruck, one of the promoters of the investigations made in 1847, saw that in this question lay the aggrandizement of Trieste and of Venice, as well as the opening of important outlets for the produce of the Imperial provinces, and of the kingdom of Hungary, where the projected canal from the Danube to Kustendje, on the Black Sea, in the line of the ancient trench or rampart of Trajan, will facilitate exportation.

Russia will find in the opening of the Canal of Suez a just satisfaction of that national aspiration towards the East which led her on one occasion to extend the limits of her vast Empire to the confines of British India, and, on another, to threaten the integrity of Turkey. The mission of civilization devolving upon the Czar over the numerous tribes of whom he is arbiter, may yet suffice the noblest ambition; the new outlets which will be pacifically thrown open to their activity and to their necessity of expansion, will be more profitable to them than a policy of conquest and exclusive dominion which it is now no longer possible for any one nation to carry on triumphantly.

The United States of America, whose traffic with Indo-China and Australia has for many years immensely developed itself; Spain with the Philippine Islands; Holland with Java, Sumatra and Borneo; the towns formerly so flourishing on the coasts of Italy; the ports and islands of Greece; all the nations in short which have held or hold a high maritime and commercial position; will hasten to take part in a work which will augment their wealth, or create new sources of it, and to the success of which I believe I can promise His Highness Mohammed Saïd the active and energetic co-operation of the enlightened men of all countries.

(Signed) Ferd. de Lesseps.

APPENDIX.
No. II.
FIRMAN OF CONCESSION.

FIRMAN OF CONCESSION.

Our friend Mons. Ferdinand de Lesseps, having called our attention to the advantages which would result to Egypt from the junction of the Mediterranean and Red Seas, by a navigable passage for large vessels, and having given us to understand the possibility of forming a company for this purpose composed of capitalists of all nations; we have accepted the arrangements which he has submitted to us, and by these presents grant him exclusive power for the establishment and direction of a Universal Company, for cutting through the Isthmus of Suez, and the construction of a canal between the two Seas, with authority to undertake or cause to be undertaken all the necessary works and erections, on condition that the Company shall previously indemnify all private persons in case of dispossession for the public benefit. And all within the limits, upon the conditions and under the responsibilities, settled in the following Articles.

Article I.

Mons. Ferdinand de Lesseps shall form a company, the direction of which we confide to him, under the name of the Universal Suez Maritime Canal Company, for cutting through the Isthmus of Suez, the construction of a passage suitable for extensive navigation, the foundation or appropriation of two sufficient entrances, one from the Mediterranean and the other from the Red Sea, and the establishment of one or two ports.

Article II.

The Director of the Company shall be always appointed by the Egyptian Government, and selected, as far as practicable, from the shareholders most interested in the undertaking.

Article III.

The term of the grant is ninety-nine years, commencing from the day of the opening of the Canal of the two Seas.

Article IV.

The works shall be executed at the sole cost of the Company, and all the necessary land not belonging to private persons shall be granted to it free of cost. The fortifications which the Government shall think proper to establish shall not be at the cost of the Company.

Article V.

The Egyptian Government shall receive from the Company annually fifteen per cent. of the net profits shown by the balance sheet, without prejudice to the interest and dividends accruing from the shares which the Government reserves the right of taking upon its own account at their issue, and without any guarantee on its part either for the execution of the works or for the operations of the Company; the remainder of the net profits shall be divided as follows:—Seventy-five per cent. to the benefit of the Company, ten per cent. to the benefit of the members instrumental to its foundation.

Article VI.

The tariffs of dues for the passage of the Canal of Suez, to be agreed upon between the Company and the Viceroy of Egypt, and collected by the Company’s agents, shall be always equal for all nations; no particular advantage can ever be stipulated for the exclusive benefit of any one country.

Article VII.

In case the Company should consider it necessary to connect the Nile by a navigable cut with the direct passage of the Isthmus, and in case the Maritime Canal should follow an indirect course, the Egyptian Government will give up to the Company the uncultivated lands belonging to the public domain, which shall be irrigated and cultivated at the expense of the Company, or by its instrumentality.

The Company shall enjoy the said lands for ten years free of taxes, commencing from the day of the opening of the canal; during the remaining eighty-nine years of the grant, the Company shall pay tithes to the Egyptian Government, after which period it cannot continue in possession of the lands above mentioned without paying to the said Government an impost equal to that appointed for lands of the same description.

Article VIII.

To avoid all difficulty on the subject of the lands which are to be given up to the Company, a plan drawn by M. Linant Bey, our Engineer Commissioner attached to the Company, shall indicate the lands granted both for the line and the establishments of the maritime Canal and for the alimentary Canal from the Nile, as well as for the purpose of cultivation, conformably to the stipulations of Article VII.

It is moreover understood, that all speculation is forbidden from the present time, upon the lands to be granted from the public domain, and that the lands previously belonging to private persons and which the proprietors may hereafter wish to have irrigated by the waters of the alimentary Canal, made at the cost of the Company, shall pay a rent of.... per feddan cultivated (or a rent amicably settled between the Government and the Company).

Article IX.

The Company is farther allowed to extract from the mines and quarries belonging to the public domain, any materials necessary for the works of the canal and the erections connected therewith, without paying dues; it shall also enjoy the right of free entry for all machines and materials which it shall import from abroad for the purposes of carrying out this grant.

Article X.

At the expiration of the grant the Egyptian Government will take the place of the Company, and enjoy all its rights without reservation, the said Government will enter into full possession of the Canal of the two Seas, and of all the establishments connected therewith. The indemnity to be allowed the Company for the relinquishment of its plant and moveables, shall be arranged by amicable agreement or by arbitration.

Article XI.

The statutes of the Society shall be moreover submitted to us by the Director of the Company, and must have the sanction of our approbation. Any modifications that may be hereafter introduced must previously receive our sanction. The said statutes shall set forth the names of the founders, the list of whom we reserve to ourselves the right of approving. This list shall include those persons whose labours, studies, exertions or capital have previously contributed to the execution of the grand undertaking of the Canal of Suez.

Article XII.

Finally, we promise our true and hearty co-operation, and that of all the functionaries of Egypt in facilitating the execution and carrying out of the present powers.

TO MY ATTACHED FRIEND
M. FERDINAND DE LESSEPS,
OF HIGH BIRTH AND ELEVATED RANK.

Cairo, 30th of November, 1854.

The grant made to the Company having to be ratified by his Imperial Majesty the Sultan, I send you this copy that you may keep it in your possession. With regard to the works connected with the excavation of the Canal of Suez, they are not to be commenced until after they are authorized by the Sublime Porte.

3 Ramadan, 1271.

(The Viceroy’s Seal.)

A true translation of the Turkish text.

Kœnig Bey,
Secretary of Mandates to
his Highness the Viceroy.

Alexandria, May 19th, 1855.

APPENDIX.
No. III.
INSTRUCTIONS
TO
MM. LINANT BEY AND MOUGEL BEY.

INSTRUCTIONS
TO
MM. LINANT BEY AND MOUGEL BEY,
For the Scheme of a Maritime Canal from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and an Alimentary Canal derived from the Nile.

Cairo, January 15, 1855.

Having just finished the exploration confided to us by his Highness Mohammed Saïd Pacha, I think it right to direct the attention of MM. Linant Bey and Mougel Bey to the principal points intended to serve as a programme to the precursory scheme which we have agreed to present, as a preliminary to a more complete report, accompanied by plans, maps, sections, estimates, and other documents in explanation.

1. For the entrance on the Red Sea side; to show what works it will be necessary to execute, as jetties, reservoirs, sluices, &c. if the present port is made use of. To settle the direction of the channel from the present anchorage of the roads of Suez, to the entrance of the Canal.

2. To show the exact direction of the Canal from Suez, to that part of the ancient basin of the Red Sea called the Bitter Lakes.

3. To explain how it is intended to take advantage of this basin, and whether, in passing through it, the Maritime Canal is to have one or two banks, or not to have any at all.

4. To lay down the continuation of the Canal as far as the basin of Lake Timsah, which is intended to serve as an inland port.

5. Works to be performed in rendering Lake Timsah fit for the object proposed. To give the length of the quay walls. In its passage through Lake Timsah, the Canal must be excavated of a greater breadth than in the rest of its course, in order to allow the vessels to lay at the quays without obstructing the passage. These quays are to be established, as far as possible, in the neighbourhood of the fresh water canal.

6. Course of the Maritime Canal from Lake Timsah to Lake Menzaleh.

7. The works to be executed along Lake Menzaleh, or in the lake itself, for the course of the Canal.

8. Is the opening of the Canal into the Mediterranean to be at the opening of the ancient Pelusiac branch?

9. To specify particularly the kind, nature, and dimensions of the works that will have to be executed in jetties, moles, breakwaters, reservoirs, retaining basins, &c. in order to obviate the objections made up to the present time, as to the difficulties or alleged impossibilities, proceeding from alluvial deposits on the coast, and the choking up of the opening of a Canal into the Mediterranean. This part of the scheme must be based upon incontestable proofs, exemplifications, and calculations.

10. What is the bulk of water that will enter the Maritime Canal from the Red Sea at each tide?

11. What advantage may be derived from the height of the tides, both in the course of the Maritime Canal, in the basin of the Bitter Lakes, and at the Pelusiac mouth?

12. To calculate for the Maritime Canal at a breadth of 100 metres at the level of low water in the Mediterranean, with liberty to reduce it to sixty-five or seventy metres, in those few instances where the necessary excavations and removals would be too considerable. The water line, or depth, is to be calculated at six, at seven, and at eight metres, all below the level of low water in the Mediterranean, in order that the Company may choose, according to the expense, that one of the three depths which shall be most advantageous to its interests, combined with those of the navigation.

13. To obviate the objections relative to the difficulties of navigation in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Pelusium.

14. To make a rough estimate of the maximum of all the expenses, and to state the probable date when the Canal can be opened for navigation.

15. To accompany the scheme of the Maritime Canal, with a scheme for a Canal of communication, of alimentation, and irrigation derived from the Nile, taking its point of departure between the barrage and Boulak, to reach the Wady, and come as far as Lake Timsah. The dimensions shall be so calculated, that, taking into account its fall and its supply, the Canal may water at least 100,000 feddans at the time of the inundation, and from 20 to 30,000 during the low water of the river. In the vicinity of Lake Timsah, with which it will communicate, this Canal is to be divided into two branches, for simple irrigation; the first to be directed towards Suez, the other towards Pelusium.

16. To examine whether the sands of the downs on the Isthmus, will occasion any obstacle to the construction and maintenance of the Canal, and how they may be turned to account by means of the Irrigating Canal.

17. To furnish a maximum estimate of the secondary Canal derived from the Nile, and to state the length of time required for the works.

18. To give an account of the nature and quality of the materials, which can be easily, and without great cost of transport, applied in the whole of the works, and also the localities from whence they are to be obtained.

19. Finally, to furnish an approximate statement of the minimum anticipated revenues, of the grand Maritime Canal, and of the Canal of alimentation and interior navigation.

I do not mean to confine the labours of MM. Linant Bey and Mougel Bey, within the mere limits indicated in this programme.

While bearing witness to the good understanding that I have observed to exist between them, and the identity of their convictions, as to the possibility of the communication between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, by a Canal accessible to large vessels, I beg them, in case the opinion of either, upon any question whatever, should not be entertained by the other, to state the difference of their views, and to assign the reasons thereof.

Finally, the precursory scheme, accompanied by an explanatory map, is to be finished as quickly as possible.

(Signed) Ferd. de Lesseps.

APPENDIX.
No. IV.
PRECURSORY SCHEME OF MM. LINANT BEY AND MOUGEL BEY,
ENGINEERS TO THE VICEROY OF EGYPT.

EXTRACT FROM THE MEMORIAL
OF MM. LINANT BEY AND MOUGEL BEY,
ENGINEERS TO THE VICEROY OF EGYPT,[4]
By way of Precursory Scheme for cutting through the Isthmus of Suez, by a direct Maritime Canal from Pelusium to Suez.

The enlightened Prince who now governs Egypt, Mohammed Saïd Pacha, wishing to withdraw the question of cutting through the Isthmus of Suez from the uncertainties of theory, and to bring it into practical reality, has granted a firman by which he concedes to the Universal Company formed by the capitalists of all countries, who are freely willing to take part in the undertaking, the construction and working of a Maritime Canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, with an additional Canal for communication and irrigation, derived from the Nile.

Dictating himself the terms of the Firman of Concession, Prince Mohammed Saïd has required that the undertaking shall be complete, and that an attentive examination of the localities be made, in order to profit by all the advantages offered by nature. He has recommended that the shortest track be followed, the least expensive, and that which will admit of the largest ships. His early studies and his experience in nautical art, have perfectly prepared him for the comprehension of all the bearings of the scientific question. He has indicated Pelusium and Suez, as the extreme points of the cutting to be made in that narrow tract of land, which presents a longitudinal depression across the Isthmus, of thirty leagues, and which is formed by the meeting of the two plains descending with a gradual slope, the one from Egypt, the other from the frontier hills of Asia. He considers that nature has herself traced out the communication between the two Seas, in the line of this depression.

Towards Lake Timsah, situated at an equal distance from Suez and Pelusium, another not less remarkable furrow meets the longitudinal depression at right angles; it is that of the Wady Tomilat (the fruitful land of Goshen of Scripture). This furrow still receives, for a considerable length, the overflowings of the Nile, and also appears to form the natural track of a canal of communication, commencing at the river and proceeding to connect itself in the central part of the Isthmus, with the grand line of navigation to be established between the Arabian Gulf and the Mediterranean.

The Maritime Canal will thus be brought into communication with the heart of Egypt, by a fresh water canal, which will receive the same navigation as the Nile, and will serve also for the irrigation of large zones of the desert, exhibiting at present the most wild and desolate aspect.

Upon these data we have been instructed to make a preliminary report.

Before giving the results of our investigations, it has appeared necessary to us to justify the idea of a direct track between the two Seas; for this line never having been executed, although it is the most natural, it might be supposed that whenever the junction of the two Seas has been attempted, such difficulties have been met with, that it has been obliged to be relinquished; but this is by no means the case, as we shall presently show.

In fact, what M. Lebeau says in his Histoire du Bas Empire (tom, xii., p. 490), following Abulfeda, Prince of Syria, historian and geographer, who was living in the year 753 of the Hegira, is as follows:—

“The coast at Farma (a town a little to the east of Pelusium, on the Mediterranean) was only seventy miles (106,000 metres) distant from the Red Sea. This space was a very smooth plain, slightly elevated above the level of the two Seas. Amrou formed the design of uniting them by a canal, which he would have filled with the waters of the Nile; but Omar having opposed it, from fear of opening an entrance into Arabia for the ships of the Christians, Amrou turned his thoughts in another direction. There was an ancient canal, called Trajanus Amnis, which Adrian caused to be brought from the Nile near to Babylon, in Egypt, as far as Pharboëtus, now Belbeïs. He met at this place with another canal, commenced by Nechos, and continued by Darius Hystaspes, and the two together discharged themselves into a lagoon of salt water, at the outlet of which Ptolemy Philadelphus caused a large trench to be made, which conducted the waters as far as the town of Arsinoë, or Cleopatris, at that part of the Gulf where Suez now is.

“The whole of this canal, being filled up with sand, had become useless at the time of the famous Cleopatra. Amrou was not deterred by the ancient prejudice, which, supposing the waters of the Red Sea to be higher than the soil of Egypt, created a fear of opening a passage for them; and he made it navigable for the transport of the corn of Egypt into Arabia. It is that which is now called Khalig, which passes through Cairo, but it only goes as far as the lagoon called the Lake of Sheib. The remainder, as far as the Red Sea, is entirely filled up, although some traces of it are still distinguishable.”

We have thought it necessary to quote the entire passage, because it clearly establishes the question of the Canal, and certain facts to which we shall return hereafter.

After Amrou came the Sultan, Mustapha III., who took great interest in the scheme for the junction of the two Seas by the Isthmus of Suez, and who intended to execute this work at a time of peace. (See Mémoires sur les Turcs, by M. De Tott, Parts iii. and iv.)

M. Lepère proposed, it is true, the track of the secondary canal between Alexandria and the interior of Egypt; but his opinion upon the direct track by the Isthmus of Suez is expressed in these terms:—

“In this project of the Canal of Suez, we have expressly based the choice of the ancient direction by the interior of the Delta towards Alexandria, upon commercial considerations peculiar to Egypt, and upon the fact that the coast near Pelusium does not appear to allow of a permanent maritime establishment. Nevertheless, we think it right to acknowledge, that, waving these considerations, it would still be easy (although, on the contrary, it appeared difficult, and even dangerous, before the invention of locks) to open a direct communication between Suez, the Bitter Lakes, and the Ras-el-Moyeh, continued upon the eastern bank of Lake Menzaleh, as far as the sea near Pelusium.

“We think that a canal opened in this direction would have an advantage which the interior canal would not. In fact there might be constant navigation upon it, which would not be subject to the alternations of the rising and decreasing of the Nile. It would be easy to maintain a greater depth in it than in the first canal, by means of a current fed by the immense reservoir of the Bitter Lakes.... I will add, that if I did not perceive some difficulties in excavating, and maintaining at a proper depth, the channel between Suez and the roadstead, I would propose to establish a direct communication of the two Seas by the Isthmus, for the use of corvettes and even of frigates, which would become the complement of this grand and important operation.”

It will be seen then, that M. Lepère himself acknowledged, that the direct track was the most advantageous for the commerce of the world, while the interior Canal was especially advantageous to Egypt. It is evident that with the two Canals, the one direct, on a large section, the other on a small section and derived from the Nile, all interests are most abundantly satisfied.

We will finish these observations by quoting the opinion of two distinguished staff-officers, MM. Galinier and Ferret, who have surveyed and well investigated the Red Sea. They have given a clear, rapid, and judicious analysis of the question.

“It is not in the accomplishment of this project (the interior canal), that the real junction of the two Seas consists. This problem will not be resolved, until the Isthmus shall present a practicable opening, by which all ships may pass without unloading. In order to this, it must be operated upon directly from Pelusium to Suez; on this line the desert is narrower than anywhere else. It is also in this direction, that the great depression of which we have spoken extends, and at the bottom of which the grand basin of the Bitter Lakes is situated. Everything therefore points out this spot in the strip of land for the construction of a canal. Everything, with one single exception, which is, that there is not, they say, any port at the extremity of this line of navigation; that of Suez is partly filled up with sand, and upon the Mediterranean, not a harbour, not a single roadstead, which now affords any safety. Yet more, some travellers have stated, that if it were required to form a port, it would be necessary to contend against masses of sand, which, continually shifted from west to east by a tolerably rapid current, seem to oppose any maritime establishment upon that coast. In fact it is, they say, for this reason that Alexander laid much farther to the west the foundations of the town which bears his name, and which he wished to become the emporium of the world. But is the objection very serious at the present time? can the obstacle, which occasions this anxiety, resist the constructive means which are at the disposal of our engineers? We think not. To create a port without the assistance of nature; to put a restraint upon the sea; to reduce it to subjection; to impose upon it an artificial roadstead; and to maintain that roadstead, in spite of the natural causes operating to destroy it: is a problem which has ceased to terrify modern art.

“Let us take the port of Pelusium,—see how easily the difficulty would be removed! Suppose the Bitter Lakes to be filled with the waters of the Arabian Gulf; by the action of the tides alone, more than 700,000,000 cubic metres of water might be turned to account, the velocity of which would constantly scour the channel, and prevent the accumulation of sand at its mouth.

“After all that has been done by printing, the mariner’s compass, steam,—the nineteenth century, by the realization of this vast undertaking, would again change the face of the globe. But, not to carry our views and our anticipations so far, in a zone nearer at hand, Arabia and Abyssinia, the vast country of the Gallas, the deserts of the western coast of the Red Sea, with their roving populations, attached by powerful ties to the vast circle of traffic which our continent unceasingly creates and feeds—will enter into the pale of the European world. Navigation and industry charged with the supply of immense countries destitute of everything, will take a more extensive range. In the wake of commerce, enlightenment and civilization will penetrate, by degrees, that dreary night which envelopes the Mussulman world.”

The advantage of the new track being thus sufficiently proved from a general point of view, we shall now enter into the details of the scheme with regard to its execution. We will begin with the levelling of the line from Pelusium to Suez. These levels were taken by some engineers attached to the French expedition, and the difference between the level of high water at Suez, and of low water at Tineh, was found to be 9 met., 90, in favour of the Red Sea. Although this result has been explained by geological and historical considerations, the fact appeared so extraordinary that several travellers came to the spot to verify it. Some English officers amongst others, operating first with the barometer, and afterwards with the boiling water process, were not able to discover any perceptible difference between the levels of the two Seas. These investigations, published in a pamphlet which has come before us, and which were known to the learned world, had occasioned much uncertainty, when, in 1847, a society established for the investigation of the Isthmus of Suez, and at the head of which were MM. Négrelli, Robert Stephenson and Talabot, caused a complete survey to be made by French engineers, under the direction of M. Bourdaloue, well known for his improved methods of levelling, and his numerous labours in that particular branch. These able and experienced surveyors, provided with good instruments, and accompanied by a numerous staff, were formed into several divisions, which operated separately, and thus were able to obtain divers verifications.

To give still greater facility and more security to the operations of the engineers, His Highness the viceroy, who had generously provided for all the requirements of the expedition, condescended to make choice of one of us to direct the whole of the operations, with the assistance of a brigade of Egyptian Engineers and a Company of artillerymen, who assisted in all the operations of levelling and verification.

M. Talabot, the engineer, in a report published in 1847, has entered into all the details of these operations, and has given an irrefutable proof of the results obtained. As these results differed very widely from those obtained by the engineers of the French expedition, it was difficult to believe in so great an error.

M. Sabatier, Consul General of France in Egypt, having been informed of the wish of some learned Frenchmen to have a fresh verification, spontaneously applied to the viceroy of Egypt, and one of us was appointed to undertake it in consequence.

The verification was made in 1853. It resulted in favour of the surveyors of 1847. For, the new levels only differ 0 met., 1814, from those of 1847, and give as the difference of level between the station on the quay of the hotel at Suez, and low water in the Mediterranean 2 met., 4286, instead of 2 met., 6100 found by the operations in 1847.

There cannot be a moment’s hesitation in making choice between the levellings of 1799 and those of 1847 and 1853, for the two latter were taken under the most favourable circumstances by experienced surveyors provided with the best instruments, and were verified several times without finding any perceptible difference by these various verifications; whilst the levelling of 1799 was undertaken in the midst of the vicissitudes and dangers of warfare, in a hostile country, and in a climate to which the engineers were not accustomed. One part of the operations was performed with the spirit level; another rather important portion could only be done with the water level; the surveyors frequently differed; none of the divisions of these levellings could be verified; and if the last operations had been retarded ever so little, the incidents of the war would have made them impossible; the operations had to be performed with rapidity, and the levels taken in long lengths; with frequent interruptions, and without the check of any verification. This is what M. Lepère has stated in his memorial, where he expresses himself thus:—

“Pressed for time, disturbed by the hostile demonstrations of the Arab tribes, frequently obliged to suspend operations, obliged in fine to take a great part of the observations with a water level, with no possibility of making any verification, it is not at all surprising that the able engineers who conducted these operations under such exceptional circumstances should have arrived at uncertain results.” We have therefore adopted the levels taken in 1847 and in 1853, as the only true ones, the only ones that were verified, and the only satisfactory ones. We give an abstract of them in the following table:—

Stations with the Levels taken in 1853, compared with the Levels taken at the same Stations in 1847.

The most striking fact to be observed in the examination of this table is, the slight relief of the ground above high water of the Red Sea, in the whole extent of the Isthmus. There are only two points somewhat elevated. The first, proceeding from Suez, is met with before Lake Timsah, and is that which we shall call the Serapeum bar; its greatest elevation is 16 met., 5950, above low water in the Mediterranean. The second point is at the outlet of the lake, and its greatest elevation is fifteen metres, at the spot known as the bar of El Guisr; but the line of the Canal may be carried in a direction where but ten metres are met with for some kilometres of length. Supposing therefore the bed of the canal to be established at the depth of 6 met., 50, below low water in the Mediterranean, the greatest excavation would be at the bar of El Guisr, and would show a total depth of 16 met., 50, which is nothing extraordinary; supposing it even twenty metres, the requisite excavation would bear no comparison with what was executed in Mexico, during the Spanish occupation. For, in their then difficult position, and in the absence of tools and improved means, the Spaniards were able to effect, near the town of Mexico, which was threatened with invasion by the waters of the neighbouring lakes, the cutting of Huehuetoca, the total length of which is 20,585 metres, and its depth from forty-five to sixty metres, for a length of more than 800 metres, and from thirty to fifty metres for a length of 3500 metres. And yet the expense of this work was only 31,000,000 francs.

The levelling also shows, that by adopting 6 met., 50, for the bed of the Canal, there will be a length of 18 kil. in the Bitter Lakes, where there will not be a shovelful to remove, and for another 18 kil. there will be very little to do; and as these lakes are dry at a depth of 8 met., 39, below low water, all the earth-works for the whole length of them could be performed in the dry, if found advantageous to do so.

The numerous transverse sections taken with the levelling of 1847, enable us to ascertain approximately the superfice of the Bitter Lakes at the water line. This superfice is about 330,000,000 square metres. If, then, the action of the tide, which brings two metres of moving water, be admitted into these lakes, a disposable volume of 660,000,000 cubic metres of water would be accumulated, and which might be raised to 800,000,000 by adding Lake Timsah and the retaining basins at Suez and Pelusium to these immense reservoirs.

Before pointing out the various directions of the adopted track, it appears necessary to arrive at a fixed opinion as to the formation of the Isthmus and of the downs by which it is partly covered, and also as to the accumulations of sand which exist both on the coast of Pelusium and at the bottom of the Gulf of Suez; for it is from the explanation of these phenomena that we shall start in our justification of the arrangements of the direct track in general and in detail.

By attentively observing what is passing before our eyes at the present time, in respect of the destruction and recomposition of continuity, we may come to an exact conclusion regarding the laws which operated towards the first ages of the world in the formation of alluvial lands.

Let us first examine what is going on in the English Channel; for this narrow sea having a large number of ports both on the French and English coasts, has on that account been the object of numerous observations by engineers.

The first well recognised fact is the destruction of the coast from the point of Barfleur as far as the Somme, a distance of 338 kilometres; and on the other side of the channel, from the Isle of Wight to Dover, a distance of 250 kilometres. This action is produced by the alternation of frost and thaw, by dry and moist winds, and by the saline evaporation of the sea. The abrasion observed on the coast of Calvados is an average of 0 met., 25, per ann. and on the coasts of Normandy and England 0 met., 30. The mean height of the cliffs on either side being sixty metres, it follows that the channel swallows up an amount of 10,000,000 cubic metres of earth and stones every year, which must find a place somewhere.

The second fact, equally well established, and which, though opposed to the opinion of the ancients, can no longer leave any doubt on the mind, is, that rivers, with a few rare exceptions,—such as the Loire for instance,—only carry to the sea an extremely thin mud, destined to be lost in the mass of matter held in suspension by the latter; that the sands of rivers do not in general reach the sea, and that the muddy or sandy deposits observed in tidal rivers, are entirely owing to the matters brought by the tide. This discovery has been arrived at as follows.

In making the analysis of the alluvial lands forming the Bay of St. Michael, it was found that the principal substances of their formation are silex and the carbonate of lime; that the nearer the sea is approached, the more the proportion of silex increases; the more it is receded from, the more considerable the proportion of carbonate of lime becomes. Now if the basins of the three rivers which discharge themselves into this bay, the Sée, the Selime and the Couësnon, be examined, they will be found entirely destitute of calcareous substances. It is the same with the coasts of the channel and of Brittany. It cannot, therefore, be either from these rivers or from the coasts that the enormous proportion of silex proceeds which has just been described. If samples are examined with a magnifying glass, commencing with those nearest the sea, and afterwards proceeding farther into the bay, in the first, fragments of shells are perceived quite distinguishable, then these fragments are reduced and become so impalpable, that the best glass will no longer enable us to distinguish the form in the most calcareous portions.

It is, therefore, certain that the calcareous part comes exclusively from the sea, and even from the bottom of the roadstead of Cancale. As for the silex and clay, a part in their deposit may be attributed to the rivers; but it should first be understood how unimportant these three small rivers are, each discharging not more than an average of eight to ten cubic metres of water per second. Farther, if the contributions of the rivers reckoned for anything in the deposits which are made in this locality, clayey or gravelly stratifications would be seen on their banks at the parts where the tide is least felt. Nothing of the kind occurs. The mixture of the calcareous matter, the grains of silex, and the argillaceous atoms is so intimate, that it is evident it could only be made at the very centre of the production of the calcareous matter; that is to say, at the bottom of the sea. If the fluviatile deposit was appreciable, it would counterbalance entirely, or in part, the calcareous overplus in the drift taken from the top of the roadstead, as compared with that taken at the bottom. Far from this being the case, the progression of the calcareous element, which can only come from the sea, is seen in proportion to the elevation of the shores. Finally, if the fluviatile deposit ought to be reckoned for anything, a larger proportion of clay would be seen upon the brink of the Sée, which traverses fissile lands, than in the neighbouring channel of the Couësnon, which traverses lands of a much harder character, furnishing less clay than the fissile ground of the Sée and the Selime. Now, the contrary is the case; the drifts of the neighbouring channel of the Couësnon are more clayey than the others, solely because this channel being more sheltered than the beds of the other two rivers, the muddy matter which the sea always holds so abundantly in suspension, and which it deposits in the basins of ports, can be carried there concurrently with the drifts.

On making the same investigations for the Seine, it was found that the sands transported by this river do not pass Rouen, and that all the accretions that are seen lower down, as far as the flats which are met with at its mouth, are deposits by the sea.

The same results were arrived at for the Scheld.

As to the Meuse and the Rhine, the following deductions have been made.

The abrasion of the coasts of the channel supplies the sea with fragments of chalk and siliceous rocks, which being rolled about by the sea become shingle. This shingle forms banks along the English and French coasts, and forced by the double action of flood and wind towards the straits it approaches them; but the shingle on the coast of France continually decreasing in size, reaches the mouth of the Somme, where it finds the point of Cayeux formed by its accumulation. Stopped at this point by the waters of the Somme, and by the change in the direction of the current of the sea which turns towards the Pas de Calais, this shingle increases the point of Cayeux, so long as its continual collision has not sufficiently reduced the size of the stones for them to be carried away by the sea; but when they are small enough, the flood bears them away and distributes them on the numerous banks which are found between the Somme and the Pas de Calais. From the inspection of Marine Charts, it is seen that the fineness of the deposit increases in proportion as these banks are nearer to the straits, and if the banks disappear in the Straits, it is because the force of the current does not allow the sands, which from being sifted for a long time have become finer and finer, to stop in that passage. They pass it therefore and some go to form the downs between Dunkirk and the Scheld, others in like manner to form downs on the English coast, others remaining in the strongest currents are carried as far as the mouths of the Humber in England, and of the Meuse and Rhine on the Continent.

If the shape of the English and French coasts to the north and south of the Straits is observed attentively, it will strike every one that those to the south are cut out into concave indentations, while those to the north all affect the convex form. It is because the coasts to the south of the Straits are abraded by the tide, and those to the north, on the contrary, are fed by the accretions. As for the muddy matters in this long course, they can only be deposited in a few perfectly tranquil creeks, or in the basins of open ports on either coast. Wherever the tide penetrates they are carried with it, and, when finally it has entered the northern sea, and made a course sufficiently long to abate its swiftness, it finds itself in an excellent condition for depositing these muddy matters, which it holds in suspension. This is what it does at the mouth of the Humber, where it completely chokes up the port of Hull.

In like manner, the muddy matters form at the mouth of the Rhine, of the Meuse, and of the Scheld, those immense polders, which constitute such an essential part of the territory of Holland, and the numerous banks at the mouth of these rivers are only composed of sand and carbonate of lime. Now the rapidity of the current, long before reaching the mouth, is not sufficiently great to carry down the sands; in fact, no trace of them is perceived; these banks are therefore the production of the sea.

Finally, in order to appreciate at the maximum the power of the fluviatile deposit in the formation of the coasts, observations have been made upon the Yssel, that branch of the Rhine which discharges itself into the Zuyderzee. This sea has but very feeble tides, 0 met., 40, at ordinary high water, and very much resembles the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the Adriatic Gulf in this respect. A muddy Delta has also been formed at the mouth of the Yssel, of the same shape as those of the Rhone, the Po, the Nile, &c. &c. This Delta cannot be exclusively owing to the Yssel, because, although it is true that the tides of the Zuyderzee are very feeble, on the other hand the shores which surround it are of an exceedingly friable nature; now, however feeble the tides may be, they yet attack the banks, and what proves it, is, that the Hollanders are obliged to defend them. By considering the Delta of the Yssel as a fluviatile deposit solely, we shall therefore have an extreme case. Now, this Delta has a superfice of only 1500 hectares, while the superfice of the land in Holland, which is evidently of modern deposit, is at least 1,000,000 hectares. If it is observed that the Yssel only emits a fifteenth of the whole volume of the Rhine and the Meuse united, it will give 22,500 hectares for the deposit of the river, against 1,000,000 deposited by the sea; which is scarcely two per cent. of what the sea has furnished in the formation of the polders of Holland.

From the examination of all these facts, it evidently results, as we have said, that in seas with tides, the rivers not only do not form banks, alluvium, or deltas at their mouths, but farther, that the alluvium found in the regions of these rivers submitted to the action of the tide, is deposited by the sea.

We shall now prove that these conclusions are equally true for the rivers of the Mediterranean, notwithstanding the opinion of the Italian engineers, who have considered the fluviatile origin of their deltas as demonstrated.

To give an idea of the propagation of the waves or billows of the sea agitated by the wind, they have been compared to a field of corn under the action of the air. It seems as if the ears of corn had an impulsive swiftness, which however does not exist, since they do not quit their places. Farther, if the wind is feeble, it is only the ears which waver without the stalks being shaken; but, in proportion as the wind rises, the stalks take part in the movement to a greater and greater depth down to the root.

The waves have been again compared to the movements of a cord, which is made to undulate by shaking one of its extremities in the hand. It seems as if the cord was going at a rapid rate, while in reality it does not quit the hand that shakes it, only each point of it rises and falls alternately, and this movement is the greater according as the impulse is stronger; if the extremity of the cord opposite to that which receives this impulse encounters an obstacle, as the surface of a wall for instance, it will strike it at each movement of the hand.

It is exactly the same with the waves of the sea; every fluid molecule placed at the surface of the billow experiences an oscillatory movement nearly vertical, so that if a body floating on the surface of a wave is watched it will be seen to remain in the same place, sometimes in the hollow of the wave, sometimes on its summit, and if at length it changes its place, that depends upon other circumstances, such as the force of the wind or the direction of the currents.

This oscillatory movement which is perceived on the surface of the sea, is necessarily developed to a certain depth, which will be greater in proportion as the undulations are stronger at the surface. This fact has been confirmed by experiment; it has been ascertained in effect that the agitation of the sea caused by the wind, is communicated to a certain depth, variable according to the wind, according to the sea, and the places where the observations were made, and that beyond that depth the sea is perfectly calm. Thus it may be admitted as an observed and well proved fact, that the waves require a certain depth for their free developement; if an obstacle is presented to this developement, there will be a forcible re-action of the wave against this obstacle which will be carried off, if it is moveable, and will enter into the system of the wave. This action of the waves against the deeps is what is called the ground swell.

This established, it has already been seen that the coast of the sea, as well as the projecting capes, resign to the sea every year a certain amount of earthy and rocky matters. These matters are removed by the waves which break upon the shore, the soft portions are quickly disintegrated by this powerful action, and form muddy sand and mud, and the hard portions are rounded into pebbles the size of which is diminished more and more by the prolonged action of the force which set them in motion and which reduces them to sand; but in proportion as these matters arrive at a sufficient degree of tenuity, they become susceptible of submitting to the transporting force of the waves and currents, and quit the place where they were formed.

This transporting force depends both upon the height of the tides and the direction of the winds, as well as their intensity, combined with that of the currents which are observed in all seas. So that while considerable masses of matter are set in motion along the shores, the rivers, especially those which traverse a great extent of country, transport as far as their mouths only muddy matters, so light that they are carried to a distance, and afterwards deposited in the depths of the sea. This is remarkably the case with the Nile, whose waters at the time of the inundation are distinguished by their colour for more than ten leagues into the sea. All the deposits and accretions of the river up to 20 kilom. above its mouth are muddy, while all the banks which are at its mouth are composed of sand alone.

Thus, all the impediments of the mouth of the Nile evidently emanate from the sea. To demonstrate it by still farther evidence, we will repeat the reasoning of the engineer M. Bonniceau relative to the alluvium of the river Mersey, in his excellent work upon the navigation of tidal rivers: “If the deposits emanated from the elevated lands in a sensible degree, the quantities deposited from time to time ought to be proportional to the quantity of rain that falls at the same epochs, because the same amount of matters descending from the elevated lands and transported by the river, ought to be partly regulated by the quantity of water that carries them; but it is a fact well ascertained, that the accumulations of sand which exist in the vicinity of the mouth are greater in proportion as the waters of the river are less abundant, while on the contrary at the time of the increase, when the Nile contains nearly 0 met. 008 of matter in suspension, the sand banks are removed and thrown back far off into the sea.”

It is said that Alexander the Great was determined in his choice of the situation for the port of Alexandria by the consideration of the winds and littoral currents which carry eastward the matters held in suspension by the Nile, and thus cover the coast with sand. If this theory were true, no alluvium ought to be perceived westward of the mouth of the river. Now all the coast from Tripoli as far as El Aritch is covered with sand banks, which frequently form downs, and these downs are found at the present time transported several leagues into the interior of the lands westward of the Rosetta mouth.

The port of Alexandria itself has not escaped the action of the ground swell, for a sand bank has been formed which occupies a good third of the total superfice of the roadstead. Happily for the port the accumulation of sand appears to have been arrested long ago, or rather its increase has become imperceptible.

The roadstead of Alexandria owes its depth to the disposition of its sides in respect to the winds and currents. It is like the roadstead of Algiers, which is everywhere very deep, while the neighbouring ports have sand banks. It cannot be said that these sand banks are owing to the presence of rivers, which do not exist in the whole extent of the coast of Barbary, for the few land streams that are scattered along the shore cannot be called by that name.

We have seen that the winds and the currents carry the detritus of the coasts reduced to sand to great distances. The currents however do not arrest the motion of the waves and the ground swell; they bend to their forms, and as their direction necessarily tends to the shore, the sands clear the currents with the ground swell which contains them, and which thus conducts them to the shore. When the direction of the waves is oblique to the coast, the sands are borne to a distance, but when it is perpendicular to the coast, the waves raise the sands brought by the ground swell into dykes and banks, which protect the low shores. The most minute and lightest portions are accumulated at the more elevated points of the flats, where, being dried by the sun, they are soon carried away by the wind, which leaves them, in its turn, in the shape of downs. The ground swell, therefore, furnishes the materials of those downs, which usually border flat shores, and it is that which has drawn from the depths of the sea the sands of those immense deserts of Africa, and of so many other plains which are found in various parts of the globe.

“Often,” says M. Jomard, “have I remained for whole hours, contemplating the origin and progress of the phenomenon of the formation of sands. I saw the waves break and deposit a small line, scarcely discernible, of very fine sand. Another wave came, burdened like the first, and this new line of sand pushed the first slightly on. This, once beyond the reach of the water, and exposed to the rays of a burning sun, was quickly dried, and became the prey of the wind, which immediately seized and carried it off into the air; the less light particles of gravel did not reach so far, but, subjected to the alternate motion, diminished more and more, and were converted by degrees into sand.”

We may also say with Colonel Emy, that

“All river bars are deposits, brought or arrested by the ground swell, and without it these deposits would be repelled into the main as far as the rivers extend their course. The Delta of the Nile, those of the Mississippi, of the Ganges, of the Scheld, of the Meuse, of the Rhine, and the Camargue of the Rhone, were originally bars formed by this same ground swell.”

The tongues of sand which separate the lake of Thau from the gulf of the Lion, the tongue of earth upon which Alexandria is built, those which separate the lakes Bourlos and Menzaleh from the Mediterranean, are bars of sand formed by the ground swell. The sand bank which separates from the Red Sea the vast basin of the Bitter Lakes, was, without any doubt, a ford elevated by the ground swell, which, in tempestuous weather, ascends this sea with the current of the tides charged with sand. The ford, which answers at the present time at Suez, was certainly formed in this manner by the ground swell.

We may say also, that the whole Isthmus of Suez was formed by the maritime deposits of the Mediterranean and of the Red Sea. We believe that, previous to historic times, the two Seas were in communication with each other, that the detritus of the chains of mountains situated to the right and left, carried down by rain, filled up the space which separates them, and that when that space was elevated to such a height that the ground swell could reach it, its action was applied in such a way that by the meeting of the swell of the two Seas, a bank was formed, which is no other than the bar of El Guisr. After the formation of this bank, the combined action of the ground swell, both on one side and the other, and the accretions from the neighbouring mountains continued until the Isthmus was dry. Then the soil thus constituted was covered by the downs, which advanced upon it from the direction of Pelusium, driven by the north winds, and from the direction of Suez, driven by the winds and currents from the south.

In this state the Isthmus is at present, and the numerous soundings which we have asked for from His Highness the Viceroy, will prove whether our hypothesis is well founded or not.

The same theory may, as Colonel Emy observes in his remarkable work, throw a new light on important geological facts:—

“For instance, those ancient and elevated plains, composed of sand and pebbles, the formation of which, it has been attempted to explain, by the revolutions of the globe and violent convulsions of nature, or which have been regarded as deposits left by rivers, appear to be maritime accretions. If is, indeed, easy to conceive rivers capable of bringing down the fragments detached from mountains, by shocks, and by the decomposition of the rocks; but how could they extend those fragments uniformly, and over spaces so extensive as the plains in question? Moreover, was not the course from the summits of the mountains generally too short for the fragments of the excessively hard rock found in some of those plains, to have time to acquire their roundness? The rivers have prolonged their courses through these accumulations of pebbles; they may, in overflowing, have covered them with sand and earth, but it is more probable that they contributed in nowise to the formation of these accretions, unless it were by transporting the rough materials to the sea. Nothing but the ground swell could spread these fragments of mountains so uniformly as they are, convert them into shingle and sand by a long trituration on the shores, where it had driven them; gather them either into banks or plains, and thus fill up spaces over which the sea formerly extended.

“The ancient collections of shingle, pebbles and sand are owing, like those at present forming in a similar manner, to maritime accretions, and must henceforth be regarded as an incontestable proof that the ocean formerly reached and was long stationary at different heights far exceeding its present level.”

It is not surprising, then, to find on divers points of the Isthmus pieces of hard stone broken into small fragments, and half rounded, covering the sand-banks at variable heights above the level of the Mediterranean.

But, be it as it may, it is certain that throughout the length of the line, from the roadstead of Suez to that of Pelusium, the excavations will only be in light earth, which can be easily removed by hand as far as the water line, and with dredges down to the bed of the Canal.

The track which we have followed for the Canal was prescribed by the very nature of the locality, and by the condition that the two Seas were to be brought into direct communication in the most economical manner.

The line begins at the roadstead of Suez, turns to the east of the town, making a curve to reach the ancient track, which it leaves to the west, and follows the channel of the valley until it joins the Bitter Lakes, which anciently formed the extremity of the gulf of the Red Sea. It traverses those lakes throughout their length, following their sinuosities, so as to avoid the inequalities of the ground. On leaving the lakes, the line crosses the bar of the Serapeum, at its lowest point, and enters Lake Timsah, leaving the heights of Cheik Ennedek to the east.

The last-mentioned lake is to serve in the formation of an inland port, in which ships may be revictualled and repaired, while it will be the point of junction between the Maritime Canal and the Canal communicating with the Nile.

In traversing this lake, the line forms several curves, in order to avoid the extensive downs which have encroached upon a part of that region.

On leaving the lake, the line proceeds to the bar of El Guisr, at its lowest point, and then goes towards Lake Menzaleh, which it follows directly along its eastern shore as far as Pelusium, and is prolonged into the sea until it reaches a depth of 7 m., 50.

The dimensions of the Canal have been determined by the idea of creating a grand passage for maritime navigation, open to steam and sailing vessels of considerable burthen. The Caledonian Canal is the only known analogous work. This Canal, however, is but 37 m. broad at the water line, and but 6 m., 10 deep. The locks, to the number of 23, have been enlarged so as to admit forty-four gun frigates; they are 52 m., 40 in length between the gates, 13 met. in breadth, and have a depth of water of 6 m., 10.

For cutting through the Isthmus of Panama by a maritime canal, as projected by Mr. Garella, it was proposed that the width of the canal, at the water line, should be 44 met., and the depth of water 7 met.

Prince Louis Napoleon, who, in 1846, published a remarkable work, inserted in the Revue Britannique, under the title of Canal de Nicaragua, adopted the same dimensions as Mr. Garella, in the project which he proposed to execute for establishing the communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

We have assumed on considerations hereinafter to be explained, that paddle and screw frigates as well as vessels of 1000 to 1500 tons, ought to be able to traverse the Canal in order to satisfy to the fullest extent the demands of navigation. We have therefore fixed the width of the Canal at the water line at 100 met.; its minimum draught of water at 6 m., 50, below low water in the Mediterranean. The locks, two in number, are to be 100 met. long, 21 met. wide, with a minimum depth of water of 6 m., 50. These works will be established at the two extremities of the Canal, immediately before the dykes forming the channel which on each side unites the Canal with the two Seas. These two locks will form part of a sluiced barrage, and thus convert the whole Canal into one immense dam, receiving the waters of the Red Sea during the highest tides, and storing them up successively in order to raise the level and create a rush of water in each channel when necessary. The highest tides of the Red Sea being from 2 met. to 2 m., 50 above low water in the Mediterranean, a depth of 9 met. of water will be obtained in the canal at certain times, but a mean super elevation of 1 m. may be depended on, which will usually give a minimum depth of 7 m., 50 to 8 met. Under these conditions, screw steamers will be enabled to pass easily along the Canal without the presence of its bed re-acting in an inconvenient manner on the motion of their screws. We have, however, calculated the earth-works for three different depths of water, viz. 6 met.; 6 m., 50; and 7 met. below low water in the Mediterranean. If the Company should require a depth of 8 met., it would be easy to obtain it by means of dredges, without stopping the navigation on the Canal.

The length of each barrage, including the lock, is 100 met.; and in order farther to facilitate the entrance of the rising tide into the Canal, a third barrage has been added at Suez on the site of the existing channel. This last work will be separated from the first by a platform raised above the level of high water, so that the two together will unite the road from Cairo passing by Suez to Mecca. Its length has also been fixed at 100 met.

For reasons of economy the width of the Canal has been reduced to 65 met. wherever the height of the ground reaches 6 met.

To prevent the degradation of the banks of the Canal, the slope has been fixed at two on the base to one in height, and it is proposed to have a causeway 2 met. broad to receive, 1st. A covering of the broken stones found along the Canal, 2nd. Any earth falling from the higher grounds, which would otherwise encumber the bed of the Canal. This is only an imitation of what has proved so successful on the Caledonian Canal.

The width of the towing path has been fixed at 4 met., which is quite sufficient for a maritime canal where steam towing will be so much in use.

Lake Timsah, situated nearly midway between the two Seas, at the entrance of the Wady Tomilat, will form, as we have said, an inland port, to which both the outward and inward navigation will tend. On its shores will be established magazines, stables, workshops for repairs, as well as 1500 metres of quay walls for mooring vessels and embarking merchandize. For, as the illustrious author of the work on the canal of Nicaragua well expresses it, the proposed Canal must not be a mere cutting destined solely to form a passage from one sea to the other for the produce of Europe, but it must make Egypt a prosperous state by enabling her to dispose of her interior produce, and a powerful one by the extent of her commerce.

As for the two entrances, whether from the Red Sea or the Mediterranean, all that is necessary is, that ships shall be able to approach at all seasons, and find certain and effectual shelter in bad weather. Now the roadstead of Suez is sheltered from every wind except the south-east. It will therefore be sufficient to prolong the eastern jetty to a certain distance beyond the western to render the shelter complete.

All the vessels which now take their stations in the roadstead ride out the bad weather very well, and the magazine corvette belonging to the English Company which has been anchored there for the last two years and a half has suffered no damage.

Thus, at the Suez extremity, it will be sufficient to establish two jetties, forming the entrance channel from the Red Sea, and to prolong them sufficiently far into the roadstead to reach the required depth of water, in order that vessels entering may have a draught of 7 m., 50 to 8 met. at low water. The eastern jetty must be 150 met. longer than the western for the reasons we have just given.

At Pelusium, the two jetties, in order to reach the depth of 7 m., 50 to 8 met. must be at least 6000 met. in length; but if it should be feared that the channel thus formed would not be sufficiently safe for the approach of vessels, and in order to meet objections, the real value of which have yet to be tested, we have projected a sheltered roadstead in front of these jetties by means of a grand mole from 450 to 500 met. in length, placed in such a manner as to afford shelter to vessels in bad weather, and to enable them to enter the channel at their convenience.

At all events no one can doubt that the Canal would be really and practically navigable for all vessels willing to avail themselves of the passage. But it will be asked whether jetties extending 6000 met. into the sea do not present great difficulties; whether a trench of 65 met. in width, dug 16 m., 50 deep, a part of which is under water, is not an impossibility; and whether, supposing the engineering difficulties to be surmounted, the results obtained would be in proportion to the expenses incurred. Doubts have also been started on the navigation of the Red Sea; finally, several authors have put the question, without however solving it, whether, even if the Canal were once established, commerce would not prefer the old way by the Cape as the safest and most advantageous.

These questions we are about to examine: these doubts we shall endeavour to clear up.

The Gulf of Pelusium is said to be constantly filled with sand or mud brought down by the Damietta branch of the Nile, and it is objected that the advanced works to be established on that part of the shore would only have the effect of increasing the accumulations. We admit that this portion of the Egyptian shore has been formed by maritime alluvium brought by the ground swell, as we have already proved at the commencement of our memorial. We also admit, that the object of the dykes forming the entrance channel to the Canal, would be to stop the sand thus brought by the waves, and to accumulate it against the dyke opposed to the prevailing wind, namely, against the western dyke.

But most of the ports already in existence are open to the same objections; and if they were sufficient to prevent the construction of a port, we may safely say that very few of those we are at present acquainted with would ever have been formed.

According to our idea the essential question is, to know whether, when once the port is established, it can be maintained without too great an expense.

Now it appears, that for many ages the sands have ceased to extend the Pelusiac shore, as is manifest from the well ascertained position of Pelusium, the ruins of which still remain. Strabo, in his Itinerary, says that Pelusium is situated at the distance of twenty stadia from the sea. The French engineers of the expedition have verified this distance, by measuring 1600 toises, or 3000 met. from its remains to the shore.

In 1847, the distance between these two points had not varied, as it is marked on the plan with the figure 3000 met., and at the present day it is still the same.