Page:"Round the world." - Letters from Japan, China, India, and Egypt (IA roundworldletter00fogg 0).pdf/256

NUMBER THIRTY.

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The Suez Canal—An Accomplished Fact—Reasons Alleged for Its Failure—Bugbears Exploded—Ferdinand de Lesseps—Is it a Pecuniary Success?—Rates of Toll—New Lines of Steamers—The Tides—Width, Depth and Rate of Speed Allowed—Mammoth Dredging Machines—Lac Amer—Lake Timsah—Ismailia—Lake Menzaleh—Port Said, the Silver Gate—The Sweet Water Canal—“Water is Gold”—“Have a Shine, Sir”—A Showy Old Turk—Across the Desert—Egyptian Soldiers—An Amusing Sight—Mud Hovels for Peasants and Palaces for Princes—Arrive at Grand Cairo.

Cairo, Egypt, March, 1871.

The Suez canal, one of the greatest achleye- ments of the century, was opened at the grand fete in November, 1869, at which the Empress Eugenie assisted. It was then fully described by special correspondents all over the world.

What I propose tu say now ig that whieh l haye myself seen, and sueh items as i have been able to gather in regard to its praetical working, a matter which, eighteen montis 220, Was all conjecture, and about which the letter writers differed so widely, That itis pow an accomplished fet, und u success, noone with his eyes open can deny. Larder stoutixt ihe ides of ships propelled by steamn ever crossing the <Aflantie, so Stephenson, the great engineer, and the English generally tov veurs insisted that the si uilswvonld be a failure, Perla “tho wish was fathet to the thaught.” The Knglish goyernment, luo, must now feel heartily ashamed of ils intrigues with the Sultan to throw obstacles in the way of this gteat Work, froin that nation: the French which seemy inbred in cve Hnglishman—on ihe ground o¥ philanthropy in behalf of the forced and unpaid Jabor of the Egyptians—tor no nation is now reaping so much benetit from this ucw route of steamers to India ax the English people themselyoy,

The first great bugbear was the fancied difference in level between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, by which locks would be