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Other documents randomly have
different content
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.

Viâ the
Distance to Bombay in leagues: Viâ Suez Difference.
Atlantic
Constantinople 1.800 6.100 4.300
Malta 2.062 5.800 3.778
Trieste 2.340 5.960 3.620
Marseilles 2.374 5.650 3.276
Cadiz 2.224 5.200 2.976
Lisbon 2.500 5.350 2.850
Bordeaux 2.800 5.650 2.850
Havre 2.824 5.800 2.976
London 3.100 5.950 2.850
Liverpool 3.050 5.900 2.850
Amsterdam 3.100 5.950 2.850
St. Petersburgh 3.700 6.550 2.850
New York 3.761 6.200 2.439
New Orleans 3.724 6.450 2.726

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 in1853, compared with the Levels taken at
the same Stations in 1847.

Taken from low water Variation

in the Mediterranean from the
STATIONS
at Tineh. Levels of
1853. 1847. 1847.
Low water in the
Mediterranean at Tineh. 0 m. 0000 0 m. 0000 0 m. 0000
Stations of the German
Engineers at Tineh. 1 m. 5586 1 m. 7400 0 m. 1814
Station at the Staff 29 L. 1853,
point 26 of Bourdaloue’s
triangulation of the most
elevated Lagoons of Lake
Menzaleh at Ras el Ballah. 1 m. 9800 1 m. 9800 0 m. 0000
Station 4 L. 1853,
Bourdaloue’s point A,
which was found and
verified. 7 m. 8210 7 m. 4300 0 m. 3910
Bourdaloue’s Station Staff at
the mouth of the Canal
(this staff is not certain). 3 m. 8280 3 m. 0800 0 m. 7480
Station 3 L. 1853, at the 16 m. 16 m. 0 m. 3650
Serapeum, or 5950 2300
 Bourdaloue’s No. 83.
Upon the most elevated 2 m. 4100 —— ——
deposits in the basin of 2 m. 0300 —— ——
the Isthmus. 1 m. 8600 1 m. 8000 0 m. 0600
Station 2 L. 1853, and
Bourdaloue’s Station B.
30, on a block of petrified
wood, covered with sandy
secretions, placed upon
the deposits in the basin
of the Isthmus. 2 m. 4380 2 m. 1100 0 m. 3280
Station 1 L. 1853, at the
Persepolitan monument,
upon a block of
sandstone, south of the 11 m. 11 m.
Bourdaloue excavations. 6300 3700 0 m. 2600
Station on the Caravan Road,
at the Staff Station, 3 L.
1853. 2 m. 3900 —— ——
Station at the staff at the
starting point No. 1, L.
1853. 1 m. 5186 —— ——
Station on the quay of the
Suez hotel, the same as
that of M. Bourdaloue. 2 m. 4286 2 m. 6100 0 m. 1814

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