The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-24 00:00:00

THE SUEZ CANAL,

The Morning Herald publishes a long letter, dated
March 12, from a special correspondent, on the Sue!,
Canal. " Having seen Suez and Chalouf," he writes, '‘
traversed a large portion of the area described as the
Bitter Lakes, which at present consist of several salt pools
of no remarkable extent. The place marked on the French
charts of the canal, however, is an immense basin, reach'
ing in length from a point named Mariam to another not
far north of Chalouf, and including no less than 100,000
acres. It is in this place that M. de Lesseps will have
to encounter the chief difficulty of his undertaking.'
So great is the solar heat that many persons 1:131s
predicted that the daily amount of evaporation, which 4
calculated at the enormous total of 250 Millions of
cubic feet, cannot always be replaced, and, consequentlit
that it will not be possible to keep this portion of the
canal always full. The subject has received the rnus
earnest attention from MM. Borel and Lavalley, Svul3°.
declare that they entertain not the least doubt of t
result. But the pessimists still find advocates, and the
question cannot be decided or the controversy ended tnin,"'"
the experiment of filling the Bitter Lakes is made., ",35
gain anything like an idea of the magnitude of Les 3-4,e-h.
Amers the visitor must take hie stand on the big
ground at Mariam, and look to the south. It is no Pisgah:
prospect over which his weary eyes wander. The very
place where he stands has been associated with the history
of the chosen people, and is connected by Arab tradit'e-
with the name of the sister of Moses. Through thes
dismal tracts of sand the Israelites passed. Not far ft
this they tasted the bitter waters of Marah ; and the fail!
blue cloud on the south-east is the ridge of stonY
which they surmounted on their journey to Sinai' - cit
wonder that their memories turned back to the Pleusali
But after
fields and grateful shade of the land of Goshen. e
thousands of years, in which it has been abandoned th
prowling Bedouin and the passingcaravan, the silence of ti?e,,
desert has been again invaded by a different race le`
another purpose. The steam-engine pants, the huge dreci'le
labours, the heavy barge floats where the hum of thef
Hebrew camp ascended. Other visions arise as full n3a
strange suggestions as the records of the exodus, °-/1
bridging that vast interval of solitude throughout Ichle
the barren wilderness has known no changes excePt ue
suns and seasons, the mind contrasts the slow and devi°o
march of the Jewish host with ' the railway andft%
steam ship and the thoughts that shake mankind.' '111,,,
very few months, unless some unforeseen catastroPP"
occurs, the stateliest ships will glide easily among these sterile
plains, little tracts of verdure will spread and multiPl?l
villages will spring up suddenly, towns like Ismailia ll
grow to the dimensions of prosperous ports, and a Pesce.
ful population will take the place of Bedouins and POBl'_n
4711,1:
It is not wonderful that such a future as kind
should exercise upon the imagination a7.-d°
of poetic fascination, and that the temperament a Tinto
Lesseps should have imported so much enthusiasm te
the conduct of an undertaking which is likely to
attended by results so marvellous."
Writing so early in the month, the correspondetn of
rather at a disadvantage, as then the commencementge
the filling of the Bitter Lakes had not taken place.
ettet:
makes the following remarks, however,' on the Prnsl3.
of the undertaking :—" When the filling of the oeo.
Lakes has commenced, it will be possible to corn to
more exact conclusion than at present as to the ft.oo
of the undertaking ; but even now the general °P far
seems to be that the hopes of M. de LessePst s 0
as the completion of the project is concerned,o/.
be realised by the day which has been named'
Borel and Lavalley, the contractors, will forfeit a -o:te.
sum unless their work be finished before the Ist uf ,yerf
her. The most difficult questions which arise, low-eral.
de nut regard the opening of the canal only' It has
sources of danger and loss have been pointed out. bably
been said that the drift from the desert will pro to
choke the channel. In reply to this the company
f hPt
to results carefully observed, in order to show na3
lasso
drift is really inconsiderable, and that in the
where it is greatest the height ,of the e -00
offers a complete protection. .Again ‘ve 3 tiale'
that Port Said will surely fill up in the course of o,
Conceding the fact that the deposit of sand has hee/il teii3st
siderable on the exterior of the western jetty, ulac. bas
the breakwater, not being solid, a certain P')rtieelisteril
worked its way through the interstices of the south-w_d by
corner of the harbour, this danger can be retnovjou of
rendering the jetty solid, or by the continual oPeru 15,tbe
dredges. There is a possibility of not being able to snl)..Pb
ireadi
evaporation from the Bitter Lakes, I have -
i 0 e
referred to, but this is a question which roofs
settled in the course of the summer. toed
serious difficulty may result from the daroaeal°ge calmed
serious of
A st
ty the waves of passing vessels.
wo thousand tons, moving by her own 13°Wer l.'l the
scarcely fail to create a considerable wave; and'eboler
commotion so produced should break or loosen the
yeti
the expenditure necessary for repairs would 1)
of
be
large. It is understood that paddle ships will lao con'
allowed to use their own power, but the engineer tioe.
the ae
fidently assert that they expect no injury from °ow
of screws. In any event, however, there will L'llere le
sion for the use of a large traction power, and t aging
some reason to believe that the cost of f‘e 0¢
through the canal will not be limited hY t'barge.
francs per ton which the company is empowered tnceofa
Besides, it must be remembered that the ewe-
but a single line. In the narrower portions. anu,..n.
Fer7;clt
cially in the cuttings between El Gisr aud
will not be possible for two large steamers to o'sl, 9
other, and consequently the value of Lake Timstel:_eara
central station can scarcely be overrated. aye heard
some persons, who seem unwilling to surrendwia be
objections to the project, say that it Suez'
necessary to construct immense - locks ne3ir repeat
In reply to this the engineers of the can _ 9,„a
their assertion that the levels of the MediterranoT
that
the Red Sea differ only by a few milliinetres,- And,erice
the tides in the latter will cause no inconveni
_es
The h°/'
or current requiring the construction of locks will se°-
of the sanguine and the doubts of the desponding
vividly
beelevri'
he realised or resolved, and I for one, having
impressed by the courage, the energy, the mas laboured,
tidence exhibited by the projector and his fellow
flaci the
by the spirit of organisation they have shevirTonlb,ted
patience and courtesy with which they have.
ense
the views of their adversaries, trust that their 7.1;00
capital, their ten years of toil and vigilance, will n ti'
to have been spent in vain."

--=- - -----
SING UL A.r. CASE OF FASTI—NG. --M T. Burns, A.:
threes, on phrenology, has made some remarks oil al:
range story of Sarah Jacobs. He visited her wile° cle.
lfe \Vales,oracle
and was much struck by her intelligent aPPe31.3,11,t
lade an examination of her head, and discoverecle 'l'eft
:.he possessed capabilities beyond the average. 11 crrhu
iide was paralysed, and she had several fits a averaged
declare
pieleculiar part of the story is that her parents deqtio
has not eaten anything at all during A
‘,A
last seventeen months, and does not even desire drink.
;kir of probability is attached to the assertion frota lieto
live
declaring that he is willing to allow any Pers°,llD.
in the family and watch the case continuallY. '',..
galßurns makes some suggestions respecting
ng other things, proposing that Ole 2,4140. /2C-E*".
Hader ibitilaiork amvaDzeritaa, i her treap33e7;