The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-06 00:00:00

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E "%Nig PAPER

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The Preject of a ship canid through the ailarettraa`7t-aeseas,
Of Suez,. iLcerried into execution, will be
tive of results of the highest importance, not orAyi- 11.
1.
to the cot-mere() cf the country but to that a al
Europe • and -we propose, therefore, to lay before
the public sec') data as may enable them to form a
clear conception, oot only of the mode in which it
is proposed to carry it out, but also of the steps
'which have been taken towards its realisation.
Th© importfluce of such a route to the Indian
Ocean did not escape the penetrating mind ofsthe
first Napoleon'. During the campaign in Egypt,
he took the opportunity of examining the remains
of the canal from Suez to the Nile,
attributed to
the Pharaolhi, theough its whole ..and
charged a commitirion, at the head of which was
M. Lepere, with the duty of surveyiny, and of • re-
porting on the feasihitito of restoring the ancient
channel,' or of constructing a new one. The C 3111.•
mission pronounced in favour of the former plan,.
objecting to a more direct route between the two
seas, on the ground that the level of the Red Sea-
was about ten
.yards higher than that of the Medi-
terranean, according to the imperfect levellings
which had been taken during the survey. The •
evacuation of E 4ypt: of course put an end to this
project, and it W.:.3 not until the reign of Mehemet
Ali that the scheme was seriously revived. But
the shrewd old Paella was averse to any plan which
should, while connecting the Nile with the Red
Sea, open a waterway through the heart of his
territories for the ships of Europa ; and the ge-
neral belief in the difference of the levels of the
two seas, although strongly combated by Laplace,
was a serious obstacle to the consideration of the
more direct route. In 1841, however, some English
officers confirmed the discovery previously made
by Major Chesney, that the levels of the two seas
were nearly identical, and a sort of company was
formed, iucluding Linant Bey, a French engineer
in the service of the Viceroy, for the purpose of
perfecting the plans and surveys for a direct canal.
In 1847,'M. P. Talabot, one of the members of this
association, published the result of their operations,
(establishing among other things that, save in their
Vital differences, the levels of the Red Sea and the
Mediterranean were alike. From that date the ore-
. ject has been mooted with greater activity, and in
various forms.
M. Ta'ahot s iggestcd a canal starting from Alex-
andria and passing down the western side of the
Nile, winch it crossed a little above Cairo, near the
barrage ' • thence, running north-east, it traversed
the Wady Tooini let, taking the general direction of
the canal of Trajan, and, passing through the Bitter
Lakes, debouched at Suez. A second plan, that of
Messrs. Barrault, also took Alexandria as its start-
ing point. Leavieg that city by the eastern side,
01 old port, it ran through the chain of lakes which
lie ou the northern shore of the Delta, turning to
the south-east, near Damietta, and so through the
lakes Meezaleh, B tlhth, Timsah, and the Bitter
Lakes to Suez. With this scheme was connected a
system of smaller canals for irrigation and local
traffic, intersectieg the country in various directions.
A third plan, and chat which appears to be the only
one that has any cheese of being carried into effect,
is that for which a finnan has been obtained by
Monsieur F. Lessees, and which is based on the
surveys of Linant Bey and Mengel Bey, and which
have been recently reported on by a commission of
engineers from the principal States of Europe.
The line of Monsieur Lesseps runs from Suez,
through the Bitter Lakes and Lake Timsah, to the
Bay of Tiueh, the bite of ancient Pelusium. The
main objections to this line are the alleged defec-
tive conditions offered by the termini, as to facili-
ties for constructing the necessary harboure, and
the difficulty of establishing such channels there as
should not rapidly silt up, and become obliterated
or dangerous.
The northern mouth of the proposed canal opens
in the Gulf of Pelusium, which is bordered, accord-
ing to the report of the commission, by a belt of
fine sand, over which the sea breaks at some points
in heavy weather, and the bottom consists of a
similar sand, deepening gradually until the sound-
ings reach 30 feet, whn the mud bottom of this
portion of the Mediterranean commences. It'is
added that this belt of sand has evidently remained
unchanged as to form or situation for ages. The
water shoals most rapidly about Tannis, where a
depth of 24 feet is reached at about 2,300 yards
from the shore, and this form of bottom continues
westward, with little variation, to Damietta. East-
ward, towards Pelusiurn, the increase of depth is
much less rapid, the soundings of 24 feet not be-
ing reached until about 7,500 yards from shore,
clearly pointing out Tannis as the locality for the
northern terminus of the canal. The commission
arrived at the conclusion that there is no danger of
silting up from the sand or mud carried down by
the Nile, there being no trace of ally change in the
present form of bottom forages, but some risk evi-
dently exists from the lateral motion of the sand
parallel to the coast, in e heaargestoximarosnlitterasis-
viate this it would be necessary to run out two jet-
ties to the point where the sand ceases and themud
begins. Their direction would be from N.W. to
S.E., leaving between them a channel 400 yards
wide, the northern jetty extending seaward 3,000
yards, the southern to the region of mud. They
would be constructed with stone brought from the
quarries on the shores of Syria, or from Cyprus,
Rhodes, or Scarpanto.
The southern terminus, that of Suez, appears to
offer no serious difficulties. The soundings vary
from five to thirteen yards, with a tenacious
muddy bottom, offering so good a holding ground
that the Zenobia, the coal depot, has been at
anchor in one of the most exposed parts of
the roadstead during three years, without the
slightest injury to her anchors or cables. The
two jetties at this spot would be of 1,600 and
1,200 yards in length respectively, to reach the
required depth of 24 feet water. The mud bottom
of this hrrbour appears also to have suffered little
or no change far a long period. The opening of
the canal might nevertheless alter that important
condition, but the commissioners appeared to have
no apprehensions ou that point ; and the accounts
of vast masses of mud held in suspension by the
waters on the Pelusiac shore, as well as the reported
insalubrity of the locality, they declare, from per-
sonal examination, to be chimerical.
Tho Ship Canal would be about 72 miles in
length, varying in width from 100 to 130 yards,
and about 24 feet in death. At either end would
be harbours, and an inland port would be created
at Lake Timsah, where would also be the mouth of
a fresh-water canal from the Nile, near Cairo,
through the Wady Toomilat, adapted not only for
irrigation, but for internal traffic.
The stun named in the prospectus for carrying
out this vast undertaking, including the payment
of interest on the capital during construction, is
8,000,0001., the term allowed for the completion of
the works being six years from the date of the fir-
man, Jail. 1,185 G. It has been objected that a
canal from Tennis to Suez would annihilate the
trade of Alexandria, which would thenceforward
be useless except as a military port; but it is doubt-
ful whether any important difference would be felt
except as regards the overland trade to India. The
direct traffic between Alexandria and Cairo would
probably remain in its present state, as the route
by the new channel would be both longer ancagnore
expensive. As regards our own country, it is
stated that it would not only create a serious com-
mercial rivalry between us and the nations border-
ing on the Mediterranean as regards our Indian
trade, but that it would also expose our pos-
sessions there to a coup de main on the part
of France. We attach little weight to the lat-
ter peril. It would require very considerable
preparations in the Mediterranean ports, which
could neither be carried on secretly nor with
such rapidity as to prevent England from adopting
the necessary precautions ; and it is, moreover, an
essential part of the proposed undertaking that it
shall be a strictly neutral canal—on the same foot-
ing, in fact, as the Dardanelles.
Doubtless the nations of Southern Europe would
largely profit by the facilities thus afforded them for
entering into active trade with the East; but we
have that faith in the energy and enterprise of our
own merchants, and in the advantages we possess _
from their vast capital and admirable commercial
organisation, that we have little fear of any serious
injury being inflicted on our own
trade,
d by
of India would undoubtedly be largely while that
benefivrtteithd
by the important facilities for communication
would
the Isthmus
be
the completion of the C
every part of Europe whicha
nalof
Suez.—Morning Paper.

A GALLANT Or.nr
speechira. WeLgjeauvet..ainenoeurrallasstirnHumabrreyr
aSnmeitxht,raocn h t the occasion the
oecasion of his presenting new colours to
S—
the 25th Regiment at Manchester. In the instances he
gave of the gallantry displayed by soldiers in defending
regimental colours he referred 6 a late sergeant of the
63d Regiment at lakerman ; but as he called the gallant
fellow by a wrong name, and also incorrectly stated the
reward he had attained, we are induced to refer to the
matter to correct the error into which the gallant"general
or his repenter fell. I was Sergeant Brophey, of the
63d, who, when the officer carrying the regimental co-
lour was knocked down, seized it and rushed forward,
followed by the men. They were unsuccessful in the
attempted repulse, and the sergeant, while holding the
colour, was wounded. The regiment had to retreat, but
though left lying on the field he stuck to the colour, hid
it for a time in the heather, and lay on it atmight ; and
when the regiment, by a flank movement, regained its
position, Sergeant Bropheywasfound bleeding and weak,
with the colour in his possession. His bravery was not
overlooked ; he was appointed lieutenant and paymaster
of the 3d Lancashire iVdilitia, and afterwards one of the
yeomen of her Majesty's Guard. He left Preston for
Windsor this week, to discharge the duties of tlielatter
offoe.--Preston..Cltroniiii, .