The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-03 00:00:00

M. DE LESSEN.

The Daily News tells the story of the lifo of M. de
Lesseps, the chief agent in the making of the Suez Canal.
Our contemporary points out how B.C. 326, King Seti, of
Egypt, commenced the work of connecting the Red Sea with
the Mediterranean. In the eighth century the Caliph
Almansour destroyed the work Seti had begun, and the
enterprise slept for a 1,000 years. In 1793 Napoleon
Bonaparte, then serving the French Republic as commander
of the expedition to Egypt, proposed that a canal,
capable of being navigated by sea-going ships,
should be cut across the Isthmus of Suez ; but he
was met by the curious yet time-honoured objection that
the waters of the Red Sea were not on the same level as
those of the Mediterranean. Bonaparte scouted this idea as
being contrary to the scientific laws which govern the globe,
but he, nevertheless, directed the commission of savans
which accompanied the expedition to survey the Isthmus
with the view of ascertaining the levels of the two seas.
Lissbre, an engineer of high standing, who conducted the
survey, reported that one sea was higher than the other by
several inches, and the idea of connecting them was there-
upon abandoned. The statement of the French engineers',"
though at first accepted as being the result of a special
survey, was so directly opposed to the teachings of science
that presently it began to be hinted that there must
be a mistake. In 1830 Lieutenant Waghorn, planning
the Overland Route, resurveyed the Isthmus of Suez, and
settled the question by demonstrating an almost perfect
equality of level between the two seas. At this time
M. de Lesseps was serving his diplomatic apprenticeship
in the French Consulate at Cairo, and the laying of
the bugbear which had hitherto prevented engineers
from seriously considering the pros and cons of a pro-
ject for dividing the continents, suggested to his
mind the possibility of carrying out the scheme. He
felt a powerful " call " to the work, but it was plainly
more than might be undertaken by a young man aged 26,
and but just started in life. M. de Lesseps, however, did
not by any means abandon the idea because circumstances
happened to make it impracticable at the moment.
He carried it with him to Barcelona, whither he
was shortly after removed, and where he gained great
fame- by his conduct during the siege of 1842.
He kept it before him in Rome, where in 184 S he further
distinguished himself by presuming to differ from his
Government on the question of the French occupation of
that city, and by honestly avowing his sentiments, ancl
sacrificing his position thereto. In 1854 the opportunity
for which he had long waited arrived. Mahomed. Said,
the Viceroy or Egypt, invited him to pay a visit to
Cairo, and one day, whilst crossing the desert from
Alexandria to the capital, M. de Lesseps opened out his
scheme to his Highness. Mahomed was delighted with
the idea, which he was shrewd enough to perceive was
fraught with great advantages to Egypt, and he pledged
himself to support the undertaking by every means in his
power. It was in the beginning of November that this
conversation took place, and on the 30th of the same
month M. de Lesseps was in possession of a viceroyal
firman bestowing upon him the exclusive right
to construct a maritime canal across the Isthmus of

Suez. LI. de Lesseps had reached an age at which most
men begin to think of rest when he commenced the work
for which he was born ; but if he had been 25 instead of
50, he could not have set about doing it with more
ardour. At the outset difficulties were no sooner over-
come than others arose and filled the vacant places.
It was necessary to obtain the Sultan's confirmatior
of the Viceroy's firman, and the Sultan was not greatly

disposed to further an enterprise which, whatever
became of the original shareholders, could not fail
to add to the importance of Egypt—a dependency already
too precocious to suit the jealous policy of the Porte.
Then Lord Palmerston, possibly foreseeing an ulterior
French " annexation" of Egypt, canaland all, set his fac
against the project, and was supported by some of our
contemporaries, who, in leading articles which 11L d
Lesseps carefully preserved in his desk, and now glee
fully shows to his friends, styled the promoter of the
scheme the " High Priest of the Egyptian Enterprise,'
and other funny names. Scientific men demonstrated
the impossibility of the undertaking, and even
Stephenson lent the weight of his great authority to
crush it. But the energy of M. de Lesseps triumphed over
all, and in 185 S, four years after he had definitively taken
the matter in hand, the subscription list of the
Compagnie Universelle du Canal de Suez was opened on

all the-stock exchanges of Europe. Shares were taken
up with encouraging alacrity, and on the 25th April,
1859, possession was taken, in the name of the company,
of a narrow belt of sand on the northern coast of the
Isthmus, washed on one side by the Mediterranean
Sea, and on the other by the shallow waters of Lake
Menzaleh.

FALLING FROAI A RAILWAY PARAPET.
The inquest on a Mr. Showell, who was killed
on the evening of the international boat race by
falling over the parapet at the Latimer-road station
of the Metropolitan Railway, was concluded on
Thursday. The jury, while declaring that no
blame attached to the company, expressed an
opinion that the parapet at this point, which is
below the level of the carriages, should be
guarded so as to prevent the recurrence of a similar
catastrophe.
OPENING OF THE SOUTHERN THAAIES EMBANK-
MENT.—The second portion of the Thames Embankment
on the south side of the river, viz., that which commences
at Lambeth Bridge and terminates at the end of the
Potteries is now so far completed that during the past
week persons have been permitted to walk along it in-
instead of, as formerly, proceeding through the dirty
thoroughfare which runs parallel with it. Nearly the
whole of the embankment is now paved, and as soon as
the roadway is finished, which it is expected to be
in the course of a very few days, it is understood that
the Metropolitan Board will permit its instant use for
traffic. The first portion of this embankment, it will be
remembered, was opened about twelve months since from
Westminster Bridge to Lambeth Bridge. The extensive
demolition of houses in the Potteries has considerably
improved its appearance.
THE " CAT" IN THE WORKHOUSE.—At the last
meeting of the board of guardians of the Brentford Union
workhouse, the attention of the chairman was called to a
communication in a local newspaper, inferring that the
cat-o'.nine-tails had recently been used upon three lads,
aged respectively 14, 15, and 16 years, Inmates of the
workhouse, who before they made their escape from the
ward in which they were confined were each mounted
upon the porter's back, their legs held by another man in
front, and their garments being let down about their
heels, the master flogged them, and that this took place
in the presence of boys of more tender years. The master
of the union said the affair had been greatly exaggerated,
The chairman said it was a matter which ought to be
cleared up, and at the next meeting of the board the
master is to make an explanation on the subject.
THE TRAINING FOR THE BOAT-RACE.—While
there can be little doubt that the human body may be
fortified by a good and judicious system of training, so as
to render it more capable of sustaining great and unwonted
exertion, it is still more certain that the physical powers
may be diminished and the health undermined by
one of an opposite character. There were some whc
thought that the system pursued by the Harvard crew
influenced the result of the late international race ; and if
their diet scale had been really such as was laid down by
one of our contemporaries the idea would have bad
some foundation. But we have ascertained that the
Harvard men were allowed during their training
plenty of meat, with milk, rice, vegetables, and
fruit. Compared with the diete,ry of their op-
ponents, it mainly differed in the matter of beer, which
the Oxonians were allowed to consume, while the
Americans used no beer, wine, or spirits. It is
asserted that the Harvard crew had been in train-
ing for four years. We cannot pretend to express
any opinion as to what might have been the influence
of the differences in the rowing and steering of the
two boats, or as to the effect of the want of experience
of our river on the part of the Harvard men ; but
the difference of diet had clearly nothing to do with the
result. The crews were well matched, the race was most
severely contested, and it is evidentthat the Oxonians had
to put forth their full powers to make the victory theirs.—
Lancet.

CANNIBALISM.—If any of us look forward to
being eaten by cannibals, he may wish to be informed
how he is likely to be cooked. It is a comfort to know
that the savages who may devour him are by no means
devoid of refinement in their culinary disposition.
Some French soldiers were lately taken prisoners
by the Canaks, and one of them was killed
and eaten. His comrades describe the process.
The Canaks first decapitate their victim, a matter of no
small difficulty considering the bluntness of their hatchets.
Ten to fifteen blows are necessary. The body is then
hung up to a tree by the feet, and the blood
allowed to run out for an hour. Meanwhile a
hole a yard and a half deep and a yard wide
is (lug in the ground. The hole is lined with stones
and then in the midst of them a great fire is lit. When
the wood is burnt down a little and glows with heat, it is
covered over with more stones. The man is then cleaned
out and divided into pieces about a foot long, the hands
and feet being thrown away as worthless. The pieces
of the man are placed on the leaves of a large
rose tree peculiar to the tropics. The meat is surrounded
with cocoanuts, banana, and some other plants noted for
their delicate flavour. The whole is then tied together
firmly; the fire is removed from the pit ; the meat is
placed in among the hot etones, and thus, carefully
covered, it is loft to cook for an hour. Women do not
pa,rtakeqtlll4 warrior4' fra4t. Men alone are permitted
01(pipril0 19R911P. HQ rare a &lie aoy,—