The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-07-13
Thursday Morning, July 10, 1865.
THE sUEz CANAL.

Six hundred and thirty years before the
Christian Era, NichO, civil engineer of those
days, projected ship canal across the 18TH
mu OF Suez. The design was carried out by
the Persian monarch Darius, the son of Hys-
taspes. The canal continued in use, and was
repaired as late as the reign of the Emperor
Adrian, and finally fell into disuse and decay
in the time of the Calls, who had a royal dis
regard of any commerce but that of the desert.
Bounaparte, always touched with admiration
at the achievements of antiquity, eagerly obey
ed the orders olthe Directory, that the old ca
nal should be surveyed and once more opened
to navigation. In company with NJ. Lepere.
and corps of savantS and engineers, he be-
gan the exploration on the S0th of December
l706, and traced the old route through to Bal
beis in three days. AT that time the French
engineers reported that the Red Sea was thir-
ty feet higher than the Mediterranean, the
Ory denied by La Place, and since conclusive
ly disproved. The scheme which Buonaparte
would have carried out, had he remained In
the country, was a connection between Cairo
and Suez, and from the Nile to the Arabian
Gulf NJ. Lepere hints at a direct canal be-
tween Suez and Pelusium. Plans were made
in the days of Mehemet Ali, but the shrewd
old warrior refused to make any thoroughfare
for the men-ot-war into Egypt.
The first modern company formed with the
1841, by M. Livant, civil engineer to the Vice
roy of Egypt. Another was organized by M.
En1antin, Stevenson and others, in 1885,
Nothing came of either of these projected en-
terprises. But on the 30th ofNovember. 1854.
Said Pasha, the Viceroy Of Egypt, granted GER
tain rights to M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, sub
ject to the decision of the Sultan, and the at
tention of European nations was called more
seriously to- the subject. An international
gentlemen from England, a like number from
France, and one each from Austria, Piedmont,
Holland Prussia and Spain. The members
were all officers of public works or naval gem
tlemen, well qualified to pronounce an opin-
ion on the subject. At Suez, a port at the
head of that gulf, they found secure road
stead, with ample space for five hundred ships,
and depth of water of from 10 to 40 feet
The bottom was soft mud, but afforded good
anchorage. 1t was estimated that a sea wall,
extending into the water $4,000 feet on the
south side, would give all required protection
to the harbor The quarries of Attaka, near
at hand, would furnish the material From
Pelusium, on the Mediterranean, by the most
ditect route, the distance is ninety miles,
Having spent five days at Suez, the commits
sion proceeded partly In the track of the old
canal to the Mediterranean. In many places
they found the canal to be 120 feet wide, and
IOlu ~ W HO 1CCb OCCp, WHICH, IL Cdn De re-
garded as any indication OF its original size,
must have been room enough and to spare for
the galleys of the time. The land along the
way was low and marshy, rising seldom above
four or five feet from the level of the ocean.
and having several muddy depressions, digni-
fed with the name of lakes. Water obtained
by boring was intensely bitter, but there were
no evidences of inconvenience from drifting
sands. The Bay of Pelusium is thirty-seven
miles wide between the promontories of Da-
mietta and Cape Cassius, and extends inland
thirty miles. 1t is bordered by strip of sand
beach, just outside of which the Nile deposits
its great belt of mud. The sea walls and piers
required on this side, to guard against the un-
certain current and the annual encroachments
of the Nile, are of formidable extent. The
materials are at hand in the exhaustless quar-
ries of Cyprus, Rhodes, Scarpanto, and the
Syrian coast. .'4'fs, (
The report of this commission proving fa-
vorable, M. de Lesseps and his companions be-
gan operations. Fifteen millions francs were
subscribed at once to the enterprise in Alexan-
dria. For the prosecution of the enterprise it
was necessary to have fresh water for the la
borers. A canal was cut from the Nile to Is
malta, at the head of Lake Temsah, at the
centre Of the isthmus, and from thence water
is carried in iron pipes toward Port Said A
service canal is also projected northward to
carry men and materials The land along the
borders of this fresh water canal, which is
made fertile by the Nile water, was granted to
the contractor, and also large tracts at each
seaport for the construction of works. Out of
these grants which the Sultan refused to con-
firm, afterward arose some diplomatic difficult
ties, but the matter was finally referred to the
arbitration of Napoleon Ill, who settled the
affair In manner more satisfactory to himself
than to the English, who are exceedingly jeal-
Gus OF French influence in this quarter
The whole project of M. de Lesseps is a
most magnificent one 1t contemplates a ship
canal, ninety miles in length, three hundred
and twenty feet wide, and twenty feet deep, at
the low-water level of the Mediterranean
Port Said near the Damietta mouth of the
Nile, and Suez, on the other side of the 18TH
mus, are to become important maritime cities
and the fertilizing waters of the Nile will
cause the desert sands along which it is car
rled to blossom like the rose. Midway between
the two seas at the head of lake Timsah, Ismai-
La, a town OF 1000 inhabitants, has arisen to
supply the wants of the laborers. The waters
OF the Mediterranean now flow to this place,
at an average depth of about three feet From
mere the fresh-water canal is navigable for
boats to Suez. 1t is said that the company have
contracted with various French firms for the
completion OF the whole of the works from the
mediterranean to the Red Sea by the 1st of
July, 1858, at which date the company expect
mat the canal will be opened to navigation, at
cost to the shareholders not exceeding the
subscribed capital of f-8,eo9OO0 sterling. IBos-
ton Adaertiser.