The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-13 00:00:00

THAN S_PO [(TING 31,11 PS OVERLAND

The following. account of a proposed measure of
transporting ship; from sea to sea across the lith-
mus of Suez, by a ,gentl;:man belonging to the Hon.
E. I. C. 5., is published in the Mechanics' Maga-

:;.21,C : --•

As tong ago Zl3 1847, I designed a slip of nearly
the same construction, in connection with a section
of railway which I proposed to apply to the le' li-
mus'of Suez, on the line of the ancient canal, for
the purpose of transporting vessels overland from
the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, and vice versa,
and I am anxious to lay the plan before your scien-
tific readers. My design was to construct a slip
running out into the sea at an easy slope (or rather
perhaps a convex curve), to a depth of not more
than 15 feet. As that depth would be insufficient
to enable large vessels to be brought directly on
to the slip, I proposed to use large camels, of a
construction which I will describe here.tfter, but
similar in principle to those used in the Neva for
floating down large vessels from St. Petersburg to
Cronstadt. These were to be towed out into deep
water by a small steamer, to receive the vessel,
and would be sufficiently large when empty to re-
duce the vessel's draught of water sufficiently to
admit of its being brought on the cradle of the slip,
with the camels still supporting her. A stationary
engine (or, as has since been proposed, hydraulic
power) would then be proposed to haul her up the
incline, and she would be transported to the oppo-
site shore of the Isthmus by as many locomotives
as there were lines of rail employed in supporting
her, and there launched again into her proper ele-
ment hya process the reverse of that already descril e
The "camels" were somewhat peculiar in form ;
they were to consist of two long hollow prisms of
stout sheet iron, strengthened interiorly by strong
wooden triangular frames, and divided into water-
tight compartments. On the upper surface of each
of these prisms, as they floated in the water, were
several air-tight cusions or bags, made of four or
five thicknesses of stout leather or air-proof can-
vas, extending the whole'length of the prisms in
longitudinal compartments, or divided transversely,
as might be preferred, and forming, when inflated,
an elastic bed to receive and adapt itself to the lines
of the ship. These camels would be brought along-
aide the vessel and sunk, by admitting water into
them, till they were well under her. They would
hen be connected together by rods an I screws, and
then pumped out again. As the vessel rose, the
cushions would be inflated to receive her, and, by
distributing her weight over the whole surface of
the pontoons, would prevent any strain from une-
qual support. The railway would consist of from
five to nine lines of parallel rails of sufficient gauge
and calibre to distribute and support the vessel's
weight on as large a base as practicable, consistent
with the condition of locomotion.
I may, in conclusicn, add, that it would obviate
what I conceive to he the two great difficulties of
the proposedcanal—namely, theshallow approaches
to its entrances in each sea, and the scarcity of the
water supply to maintain a sufficient depth in the
higher levels of the canal itself. Admitting, how-
ever, that a saasal would be preferable, the
"camels" might bo a valuable adjunct in bringing
vessels to its entrance, and by giving greater buoy-
ancy with a less draught of water, would carry
vessels through the canal which otherwise would
not admit of them.