New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-12-13
be more. One could not be at the pains OF Judging
distances accurately, in the midst Of the dazzling
spendors which encompassed rs.
III, DE LEsSEPSJ6 CONJURAT

NJ DE LEssEPs'5 CONJURATIoN
NJ Ferdinand do Lesseps has in truth the magi-
clans art. He knows how to possess himself OF the
Of his spectators before the process of ncana
ton begins. care not whether you be high official
or savan OF engineer or journalist you shall not re-
Sst the magical charm of the scene which the art OF
M. de Lesseps has conjured up before you. The art
of M. dc Lessepsf Yes, and more than the.art. The
grandeur of conception, the miraculous energy. the
steadfast patience, the belief of the all through
the years when the world OF first hopeful, grew
faithless; his resource, his skill in dealing with
men, his endless ingenuties in battling difficult
ties whether mechanical or financial, OF some
times gravest of all, pOlitical-these high quail
ties and talents end achievements do nov
surely mark Ferdinand de Lesseps as one of the
three four men who in dealing with great physi-
cal problems have left or are to leave their lasting
stamp and signature on the earth. Cyrus Field is
one. Him EJohn Bright dexterously baptized the
Columbus of the nineteenthFcentuTy l leave it to
Mr.. Bright or some other fit person to stand god
father to Lesseps with some title equally apt and
well deserved. At any rate to some person who has
time, and who is net writing against time to catch
mail to Europe after day of incessant exctements'
/ know not who is the man standing in the same
relation to the Pacific Railway in which Field stands
to the Atlantic Telegraph and Lesseps stands to the
are trio hard to match in any century.
For you may as well accept the great fact here on
the threshold. We are not in the canal but we know
the canal is essentially success. II has kept or
will soon keep, its great promises to mankind.
Whether at this moment Of its inauguration, 1T is
complete throughout, is QuestIon-or rather it is
admitted by NJ. Lesseps that it is not question.
Much remains to be done. The ceremony has come
a little too isOon-fault of miscalculatiOn partly;
fault partly also, of something worse than mscal-
culation thinks Lesseps Before reached Port Said
we have heard hundred rumOrs on the condition
Of the canal. 1t is o matter on which | must write
more hereafter At this moment they reduce them
selves to this positive affirmation of NJ Lesseps him
SELF viz: that any ship now lying in the basin OF
Port Said may enter the canal tomorrow, and pass
through as far as Ismailia, where the second day
fetes occur Beyond Ismailia, no ship drawing more
than IS feet will pass this week. How this happens
will explain by-and-by; now, once more to the
work of to-day which is as much as hope to get
into this letter.
The piers are built Of oblong blocks of artificial
stone. What they may be under water don't know;
but above, the great stones are tumbed together in
most admired disorder. Evidently, says lively
Frenchman at my elbow on the bridge of the Gui-
enne the piers are not for promenades, the wit of
which remark requires knowledge of the piers at
Brighton. for instance, to appreciate. That is to
come-wil come, beyond doubt, when Port Said be-
comes fashionable wateringplaee, for which it has
plenty of adaptations already. May one judge of the
climate by single dayf 1t is intoxicating. The
sun shines down upon You with fierce heat, strikes
through to the brain, almost If you not careful
about head gear. But the breeze blows cool at the
same moment fresh from the Mediterranean, fresh
as if from Alpine SHOWS in Summer. / only know
we have been all day in the air. and our hundred and
fifty passengers came in at night without trace OF
fatigue. 1t is awful the heat in Summer; but during
the Winter months believe all the world agrees the
climate of Egypt above all the coast is perfection.
sQUADRONs AND BRoADsIDEs.
The throng of ships inside the piers is so dense
that we begin TO wonder where the Guienne is to
find her BERTH do not know that ever before
have experiencedgthe sensation of sailing through
an avenue of frigates. 1t was immensely impressive.
Ranged on either side and clingng fast to the quays
to leave us room, Of great ships-ofwar,
every ship covered with flags, every yard covered
with men, every port with its gun leveled and run
out and somehow they were all leveled at us. /
have not been able to understand all day long the
EGYPTIAN theory of sautes Much less do know
whether anybody saluted the Gueinne and her
freight of invited guests Very likely the same thing
would have happened if any other ship had foated
by. 1t happened before we passed and it happened
after we had passed, and at intervals it went on all
the day. The saluting went on. The broadsldes Of
a score Of ships Prussan, French, Austrian Dutch,
Egyptian pointed straight at passed up this
matchless sentinelline. One and all they bazed and
doomed out their welcome whether TO MS or another
The mouths OF the guns often but boats length
from the sides of the Guenne but they did not spare
us for that. We passed on under a canopy of smoke
r Af,,N, L. ,NlI &1n
sound of shot and of crashing timbers and
of shreking men TO make IL battle.
Somehow gun never seems iredjn earnest unless
you hear that clang with which the shot leaves its
mouth-a very different sound from the sound of q
BLANK cartridge the meaning of 1t is also different
But the Joy was earnest enough to-day The crews
of the ships put aside tho look OF JlaS6 indifference.
not to say contempt, which marks the true man-of-
wars man in his relations with the rest Of the world
They were as much interested as we. And there
were crews such as one seldom sees swarthy fellows,
with clean-cut faces and white turbans Egyptian all
Of them. OF Egyptian ships there were, suppose,
none missing. The Viceroy has done his best to
honor his guests and for the creditlof hsEnavy In
the maze have not counted them, but their number
is considerable, and ships and crews have q seaman
like look. The Dutchmen looked smarter than one
would have thought-more like the great Dutchmen
of other days than the sons of the country which
Votare described in those three rnerciless words:
canaur, canards, cdRGille But when we saw the
Dutchmen on shore in the procession, somehow the
words of Voltaire came into my mind pray the
Knickerbockers to pardon the quotation. The
Prussians were better, much better, q tYitle
too stiff and trim and martinet-like, but the
North German blood has the sailor element
in it, beyond doubt I; and Prussia is to
hat oha 10 Haxyi lint
q scant specimen. They fred into our cabin win
dnra with q nooness th would havA done credit to