, 1865-09-05


practically and dofsupporting The learners while |
they are learning them, and Of procuring
them situations more profitable than sowing,
when they hare been rendered competent 10 !
fl1l them.
THE SUKZ CANAL.
The foreign ady1ces in our last Issue stated
that the pioneer boat had found Its way
through the 6uez Canal. This Is toned down
as theme Of cxuftation BY the appended cx-
planattou that the craft was very small one,
and the test not any considerable token OF tho
success Of the work. As In the case
of the great cable, winning will walt upon pa
ticnt Watching and long endeavos, Eit comes
at all. Unlike the cable, the sucz Canal has
already the stamp Of age upon 1t. It is ven
crahlc with the lapse of twcnty-four ccnsu-
ries. When finished, If It Is TO know such re-
suit, II. dc Lesseps, the energetic French
stImulator Of the suspended enterprise, must
share his 1Aurels as an inventor, with Napo-
Icon the First, in the game century, and Pam.
meticus and Darius Hytaspes, Its lnvaptors in
the seventh century before the Christian Era
and his success, If reached, with Ptolemy II,
who actually completed the work century,
later, when, had tho telegraph been in exist
encc, the world would have learned by des-
patch, as in our last issue, that "s1nan boats
had passed" In default Of the wires, the
news was probably sent post haste by drome-
dary express, to Grand Cairo, and with the
best speed Of the sailing craft Of that era
To all parts Of the Mediterranean Sea-
To this first Suez Canal several clnssic au-
thors refer Herodotus says IL was four days
in transit, aud admitted ionr vessels abreast.
Strnbo statcs that 1t was one hundred cubits
wide, and Of sufficient depth for large vessels.
Egypt in that elder day was celebrated for
canals and artificial water courses The con-
ncction of the Nile with the Red Sea must
lave been looked upon rs m especially dezis-
able achievement to the nayigators Of that
carly age. It was the earliest "Good Hope"
realized In the path TO India, twenty centuries
before Djaz found the other, as he turned The
fank Of the continent. The Inducements to
the first enterprise have grown with the de-
vclOpment Of the human race since its day.
Tic difficulties that swallowed the first canal,
and have tpr centuries filed Its bed with
drifting desert sand, arc the same to-day as
then. We doubt whether the French enei-
-urc1,fm unsr 70 sIa6d IN INC aw1m sEa dow 6r
the Pyramids and declare We have better en-
ginecring skill now than In their time.
The construction Of this ship canal, II sue
cessful, Is Of too great u commercial adyan-
tage not 10 be read by the dnllet knowledge
ofgcog:aphy, Il is indeed only impeded as
scheme By the political complications growing
out ofthis appreciation by the great powers of
Europe. England bad been intensely hostile
to the scheme because it is a French ono Of
old. It's present protector is Ffcnchman,
and his nationality and alliances may make
the great cut Of" q matter of peril to Brit
ish possessions and prestige in the East- But
even this Is n growing acquiescencc in the I'M
portance ofthc work, which needs no. line
Of ours TO strengthen In the minds Of our read
crs, The only question Is, will It be likely to
be accomplished
The fst1lmus Is Is miles in breadth. It Is
elevated only sevcn OF eight feet abovc the
seas on either hand, except in two small
ridges of from thirty to forty-flre feet in
height. It was formerly the bed Of the oceaa,
and by these depressions, and the.cxistence
of wide salt marshes aud swnmps shows that
the two seas were formerly united above II.
There are several small lakes, and al beside
Is Il dry and arid waste. On this statement
nothing Is shown that amounts to defiance
Of engineering skill. NJ de Lcsscps began
his joint stock company in 1852. Three
years lister strong commission Of engineers
reported That there were no insurmountable
difficulties in the way In this last commits
sion England WIS induced to have repre-
stntation, and now Is ranked among the SYM
pathize1s il the work.
The company was formed in 1859, with
s4o,oo.0oo capital. The canal, as begun, is
TO be ninety miles long, three hundred and
thirty feet wide, the bottom to he twenty
feet below the Mediterranean wafer ling,
which, by the rise Of tides, viii raise the
level few feet higher. Tho funds are fur
nished by French stockholders and the Pasha
of'Egypt. The latter became responsible for
onc-laH the amount,
The difficulties the work has had to contend
with are Of two classes, perils by the way, and
the lurking uncertain peril of failure at the
end The first was inseparablc from such
desert enterprise, by the frightfhl fatality
That bcfell its lucklcss enforced operatives.
They were pressed for the work by thousands,
and melted away as the sands suck up water
Even The stolid Egyptian ruler, with all The
unconcern ofhuman life and suffering belong
ing to his class, was appalled, at the awful
sac1af}ee ofmcn, fever and exhaustion filing
tae desert with the bones OF victims. To les
sen this destruction of life, of which the lack
nf fresh wafer was the chief minister, cxpeu-
sisc canals were cut to bring the water OF the !
Nile to the vicinity Of the work. Under such
tolls md sacrifices, and by csuelties that the
world will forget when they reap the benefits
OF tnclr purchase, the suez Canal has reached
its present stage, In which small boats has
trarersed Its entire length. The ultimate
peril that awaits the work Is one at which
The best engineers grave1y shake their heads
IN doubt The ends Of the canal On either sea
arc to be protected atrast expense by arti-
t'cial l,srbors, shielded against the formation
of sands and shoals. The Immense drin Of the
Nile pours thirty million cnbic yards Of sand
into the Sea annually, and this sets toward
the point on the Mediterranean shore where
the canal opens. To guard against its
tuuoachmmts, to mike sure the cgrcss and
ingress Of all vessels ut all times, is no small
difficulty TO cope with, and without these the
sucz Canal will be incomplete. We believe
In the pluck and skin Of our age, and that the
tarriers 10 success In the Suez Canal arc oaly
those Of bulk which will be removed and dis
appear.
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