New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-12-25

hanks of the last section of the canal are on either
side The soil has become sun ana clayey n;n ~
another half hour we are at Chaouf, the beginning
of the last doubtful part of the voyage where curves
and imperfect dredging, and know not what eise'
have kent back those big ships ahead, which we pc
ieved and hoped weshOuld see no more Of but whicn
TO our dismaY we began to come mp with we haN oo
passed or are passing over one OF the FAMOUS PtO
i'm the worlds affairs. Either across the lower Das
of tbe Ritter Lakes or by way of Chalont, went
the Israetes fleeing before Pharaoh Inc t tSa
Sea in those days would nave shorIeneu aoo tdo
labor of canal building, for it reached, say geolo-
pists mn To the lakes and these are the TWO points
at either of which tho Israelites might have passed
conveniently during a low tide. Pharaoh ana hls
charots being too hot in pursuit forgot the incoming
waters as people forget them now on some OF the
Scottish rivers and estuares. or IN the Bay OF fNh'
where they advance with frghtful rapldlty; Maui
rally the tide swallowed them up don't know
how new OF old this explanation may be, but lonhq
it given at much greater length III book Only ist
as thew like; will certainly not take 1T IL
they prefer their miracle TO mere physical expana,
ton which makes the facts consistent with natural
laws instead of being inconsistent and so miraculous
EBB TIDE FROM THE RED SEA
In the ChalOuf section we marked for the flrst
time the tide from the Red Sea. 1t was ebblng ana
had left white crest on the wrlnkled edge OF thlh
sand cakes projecting exactly like ice-cakes from
the bank They marked the level of the sea =, A
little farther on they marked our anchorage ior tne
night. Ships ahead filled the canal as far as we
could peer through the coming night, some lying
right athwart the canal and those that had escaped
grounding escaped it by anchoring There was was
nothing to do but follow their example The rattle
of the chain extinguished our last hope of seeing
Snef that mig night food the then 'e thew even
waited for daylight and went aowI
on the following ebb. Where we anchored
was but five miles from the mouth OF the canal
SueZ Law plain i'll sight its iluminaions Just KIND
ling with the mOuntain-gTanite behind the town
for a back ground to the spectacle We had every
thing in view but what we wanted most OF all
distant by water by land not more than miie.
You will see why, if yOn look ut the plan when
shows the canal passing DS sue On fnu r1 niles lies the
south In fact, the town has never made It's way
down to the harbOr There is causeway' ana goodS
| now go up by rail as well as III small steamers ,
There was no stir during the night in our part OF
| the canal Ipresume some of the ships nearest the
exit went through soon as the tide served Where
the Sennar lay the tide ebbed completely, flowed,
| and began to ebb again before anybody moved. AL
| five i'm the morning ropes and chain cables began
| their catter and went on deck They were heav-
ing at the anchor, the ships ahead were unGeT way
we shoud be off i'm five minutes, said the pilot. Be-
| fore the five minutes were passed the SEMINAR was
! hard aground There had been some blunder about
the anchor or one of the hawsers had been let go 100
soon, the ship had swung round instead OF gong on
| the tide was ebb and running swiftly. Are VIC 10
! spend another day in the canalI
| SHIP AGROUND.
For an hour the ship was a scene of confusion that
| bodied ill., The Admiral was probably the only capa-
BILE Egyptian officer ON board and he was asleep. ~
| did not occur TO anybody 10 wake him. Our pllOJ
| knows the canal and knows how to handle snip.
| IInbappiy he does not know a word OF AraDlc or
| IurklSl and
| excenfed who knows a word of French or Italian.
To complete the confusion the engineers are English
who understand little Arabic, but neither Oh the
pilots two languages, so that here wasla snip aground
In canal and her chance of getting off depended on
the execution of orders that had to be transmitted IN
! at least two languages, no TWO 0I WHICH
| were spoken by the same oihcer. VINO COM
| handed that vessel during the next half hour
could not say There no officer on the bridge,
which is pretty much the same thng as saying 'neIS
the captain would evidently have quarreled II they
| could have comprehended each other. lie was an
explosive fellow that pilot, and ms SacTrf-r-e nom
he Diem Would have made his fortune on the stage.
! Bv help of signs he got the engine started but 1t
| started the wrong way. l translated few orders
for him INTO English, which the engineers understood,
! and obeyed or not as they liked, for they had the
option of obeying the captain who generally conn
fernandez the pilots orders After an honr OF Ihs
kind of thing the Seminar yielded easily TO the pun
of q two-nch rope from the bank over the Sarboard
quarter, and hoated oil.
| This epsode excepted / should say the Seminar had
| been we'll commanded and handled. The Admiral
| was very capable officer. His subOrdnates might
not have done much alone, but they did well enough
under him. As for the crew they were, save dozen
men or so, raw village lads who had never Deen 70
sea willing and quick, but snre TO be sea sick, SAID
the pilot in the first gale Of wind There was plenty
of discipline of that kind which is administered with
ropes end We had no chance to see any gun prac-
tice which regretted the more as the SEMINAR car
red six fine Armstrong breech-loading ried cannon,
and one would have liked to see what the Egyptians
| would do with such things. Nothing could be more
than the uniform OF the crew, VINO were
arrayed from the cabin-boy TO the quartermasers in
dark blue, double breasted brass-buttOned frock
coats turned down and edged with scarlet trousers
striped with the same, their heads covered
with the unfang feZ, and their feet. for
the most part, with dirt only. But they
went aloft nimbly enough, and worked
| about on deck in a way that showed they bad the
| making of good sailors in them. AT night they
| wrapped themselves in their white blankets from
head to foot, covering the head always completely
and went to sleep on deck just as they would have
gone to sleep on the sand of the desert whence they
| came Enveloped they were, they looked like
corpses laid out and waiting their turn TO be buried
Haif-adoZen were assigned TO us by the Admiral as
| servants when we came Oh board. My fellow never
left my stateroom door except toexecute my orders
tOmime they sometimes produced curious re-
| suits. When / picked few words OF Arabic
out Of Murray he was much delighted
/ learned Arabic. His greatest distress was that L
should do anything for myself. HecOuld not endure
to sec Inc brush my own coat, and believe he would
have brushed my hair and teeth. if had consented.
When ordered hot water he was plainly OF opinion
that l was about TO perform religious ceremony.
and as he watched me shaving his conviction became
a certainty. They were not bad fellows, and II they
| had been cleaned, one might have had worse ser
| wants. Their devotion was equal TO that OF Robin
| son CrusOes man Friday. IL went on deck at night
TO see whether the ship likely TO STIR was sure
TO stumble over two three OF our half Dozen sleep
ing in impossible pOstuTes against our DOORS there
was ROOM and on the stairway If there wasnOt When
we Quilted the ship, we gave them what remained of
| our PROVISIONS and Napoleon to divide between
! them. If You think that was not magnificent :
| what do YOU think of their payf They get 81 80 a
| month, and our one Napoleon nearly half a
months pay to the six. The commander of the ship
| is paid $50 month; the first engineer, German
| $3.50.
THE SEA.
| And now, courage! We are but five miles from the
| mouth of the canal. Our delay has given the other
| ships ample time to get through. We have but one
| more halt to make. At O'clock we are within half
| mile of the end. For one moment, the Seminar
touches in midchannel, her bow lifts, she rolls like
| "A
At $3.50 we are in the Red Sea- By the canal it is 80
miles from IsmaIlia: We have been 45l hours