Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-03-25

From 4 letter 10 the New York Herald,
dated laden. Arabia, January 2sd," We
vuote:
Suez is quite an important city Just now,
aud must ultimately become greet enc if
the hopeful expectations Of Monsieur Lss-
ceps. the French contractor for the conslfuc-
ton Of the Suez Canal, are realized. its
present population is about eight thousand,
composed Of Arabs, Turks, Nubsns, Egyp
tians, Jews, Armenians aud Franks, OF Ia.
repeans. II is built on low sandy tract Of
land, bounded on the east and Meth ~ ne
arid, sandy dessr.a Of Egypt end ash ~,
on the wsst b. high bulls, ana tAe sousu y
the Rad Sea. just tcross mario" 80 "
| the eastward Is III grand csnai, rs
n r,r.,rprtsen. uhieh II intended y abt1e
III. .f.g.,,.,+afsan ana Red seas. NJ part
80, as,.xst been complstcd. The route
- opsnsd throughout lks whole
,A,,h which is 124 miles. extending
80. The is,hmus from Pof, Lad, on the
Mediterranean, to the town Of Susz, on the
| Red Sea.
II is quite an interesting sight to sss
what has been done Large bodice VI men
are stationed At intervals Of twenty miles,
under the superintendsnce of French e.
| gine.rs, who with whsslbarrows huge iron
scoopa, etc., dig deep into tho Sand, IN acme
places to the depth Of one hundred feet
For many milss the course Of the canal runs
through sandy desert. where the heat 10 90
excessive that it is difficult 10 believe that
animal life could exist The rays Of the
| searching sun, with the dazzling glare OF the
| sand, render Lie almost unbesrabls /; ret,
strange 10 say, the hsf-nsk.d worsmen are
apparently contsnicd with their lot for the
Arab song ard chant. though Isrtaking
somewhat a mournful cast, may be hear
long befofs you reach their camp hsysu
! Journey afeng, enormous moundI OF SAND
MAJ lie seen on tie banks which have been
taken from the excavations. As soon as
thu workmen sight a Frank approaching
t!lsy beet lin on a sides, literally yelling
fnth with Economical gesture the worc
'bscashish," or aims. II is useless 4
deny them, and ~ it is the height OF folly
10 give even para away, the only cours
leit open is to apply TO what VIC would cal
ia America the section boss," who, viii
dexrons blows from his whip soon clear
the read.
Viewing these masses Of miserable huma
beings one would imagine that all Esyi
| beu UeSu BIAiUNu VI ~ suHPiy ~
worAmen for the canal. Such is not th
! c,ss, however. for every city and hamlet
g Egypt as far south a. the n,os' southsrnnns
point Of Nubia has its group Of iellahs lux,
rating in filth and lszness. About eight
>, thousand are employed IN this work, an
e the appearance Of their CAMPS IL extremei
= strange, for mixed unfortunately vii
scantily clad and emaciated men lying o
n. 4 a IL = Z
goals, donkeys and mules, while nithy &C
c cnnu atoms, emitting offensive odore, II
& piled in all directions.
Forced labor was long time employed b
c the Egyptian Government, but this metho
i # obtaining men has been given up, tn
Pasha undertaking to pay $4,000, 900 con-
Z pcnsaiion to Monsieur Lesseps. The Frcnc
comu any, OF which NJ. Lssssps is agent, fc
the purpose Of borrowing funds, have crcl
= lated 2,500.OO0 francs in brass con OF tt
l nominal value Of francs and half francs, n
deemsble At sight. These pass currsr
n throughout all Eastern Egypt.
e The canal, when completed, is 10 be twei
IT II ono feet deep, ninety six feet wide at u
u bottom and one hundred and eighty feet
5 tho water line. A small feeder has bee
> completed, which rnns parallel with Il
Is grand canal, extending irom Port Said
lie lsmslla. on Lake Tunsah, which Is fifty te
he wide and Of the average depth OF i've fe'
~ From I>msilA to Suez ~ another canal Il
II BY the Nile, Of the same width, and so tn
II there IS really n canal completed throul
b which small vessels pass and repass CO
! s,anlly. Last week three Greek schooner
q each twenty tons burden passed throug
Iaten with coal, FROM Alexandria 20 Sutz
Bat 1t will take many years yet before Il
grand canal Is finished, and, Al 1t were u
10 under the auspices OF the French Cover
- ment, the project must have fallen TO {
: ground long ago for want Of money.