A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SUEZ CANAL
The sea was quite smooth when the Guardian-Mother and her tender arrived
off Port Said. There was about thirty feet of water off the breakwater;
and though there was an extensive basin at the town, the commander
preferred to anchor outside for purposes he had in view. The trip to
Cyprus had interrupted the educational work of the tourists, and this
was the grand object ever uppermost in his mind.
Though this instructive element of the cruise around the world had been
prominent in his thoughts before the steamer sailed from New York, it
was rather indefinite in its details, so that he had failed to make some
preparations for the work which the experience of a year now suggested
to him. In the lectures, conferences, talks, and explanations to
individuals, the professor and himself had felt the want of suitable
maps on a large scale.
At Alexandria he had obtained a large map of Egypt, though it was not
just what was wanted; but it had answered the purpose tolerably well.
The subjects which would be next in order were full of interest to him,
and were likely to be so to the members of the party; for they included
some of the older countries of the world, such as Syria, Babylonia,
Assyria, Persia, and Arabia. Geographically they were comparatively
unfamiliar to the members of the party, who, unlike the professor, the
surgeon, and Uncle Moses, had not been liberally educated.
The instruction given at the various places on the voyage, and the
studies of the students on the wing, had demonstrated that such maps
were indispensable. But Captain Ringgold was a man of expedients. Every
steamer, especially those engaged in making long voyages, has a
paint-shop on board, more or less abundantly supplied with all necessary
material. All seamen are required to do plain painting; for such a ship
as the Guardian-Mother had to be kept in the nicest condition.
At Alexandria and Cairo the commander had procured such additional
material as was needed for the production of the maps desired. Some of
the sailors were more skilful in the use of the brush than others; and
as soon as the captain mentioned his purpose to the first and second
officers, they were able to point out a couple of men who had some
artistic ideas in their composition.
All the crew were able seamen, and every one of them was skilled in the
use of the sail-needle and palm, though of course in different degrees,
as in all other occupations. Some of these had sewed the canvas together
on which the maps were to be drawn and painted. It was not expected that
anything which would pass the scrutiny of an artist would be produced;
only such work as would answer the purpose of illustration.
In Mr. P. Lord Gaskette, the second officer of the ship, Captain
Ringgold found his ablest assistant. He was a graduate of one of the
most noted colleges of the United States, and had made some progress in
the study of the legal profession. Unfortunately his health had failed
him, and he had turned his attention to artistic pursuits for the sake
of the out-door life to be obtained in sketching. He had taken some
lessons in drawing and painting; but his physician had insisted that he
should go to sea. He had been seven years a wanderer over the world,
having shipped before the mast, and reached his present position.
In the paint-shop he was quite at home. He was assisted by the two
seamen the most skilled with the brush, while he did the drawing
himself. The large atlas of the world, a very expensive work, belonging
to the commander, supplied accurate maps on a small scale, and these
were transferred to the canvas, eight feet square. During the voyage to
Cyprus three of these maps had been finished. One of them was the Delta
of Egypt, including the Suez Canal; and the commander declared that it
was handsome enough to adorn any schoolroom.
The Maud had made fast to the ship as usual when she came to anchor, and
the "Big Four" were to report on board as soon as they had put their
craft to rights. The party had mounted the promenade as soon as the low
shore was in sight, and were looking about them at the various objects
in view. Several large English steamers were in sight, including one of
the P. & O. Line, and the Ophir, the largest and finest of the Orient
Line, both bound to India and other countries of the Orient.
"How is your patient this afternoon, Dr. Hawkes?" asked the commander,
as he met the physician on his way to the promenade.
"He is doing very well. He has very little pain now; and I think he will
be as well as ever in a fortnight or three weeks, if he will only be
reasonable," replied the doctor.
"Reasonable? Doesn't he wish to get well?" asked the commander.
"He wants to talk, and evidently has something on his mind. He desires
an interview with you, Captain, and has asked me to obtain it for him;
but I refused to do anything of the kind, for he has some fever hanging
about him, and must be kept as quiet as possible."
"I don't know that I have any business with him, or he with me. I
consider him one of the most unmitigated villains that ever walked the
earth or sailed the seas," added Captain Ringgold. "The scoundrel does
not seem to have common-sense; for he puts forward the most absurd
claims that ever were invented, and it would not surprise me at all if
he advanced another against me or Louis, in spite of the overwhelming
defeat he has just sustained."
"He is the coolest and most impudent rascal I ever heard of. He asks
Louis for a vast sum of money, and then politely requests him to become
a prisoner in the cabin of the Fatimé as security for the payment of the
sum by his trustee;" and the doctor shook his fat sides with laughter at
the absurdity.
"Very likely he has some such proposition to make to me. He really
believes, I think, that he has a fair claim for what he has lost, or
failed to obtain, by the miscarriage of all his plots to make a prisoner
of Louis and Miss Blanche. All I desire is to get rid of the villain;
and as soon as you inform me that he is off your hands I shall put him
on shore."
The captain and the doctor joined the party on the promenade. Mr.
Gaskette and his assistant were hanging one of the maps completed on the
upper deck, where the conferences were usually held. He had assigned
subjects to several members of the party, and he seemed to be anxious to
have them disposed of; for he declared that this locality was one of the
most interesting corners of the world to him.
On the promenade the mothers had their sons by their side, and Mrs.
Blossom had secured possession of Felix in some manner that did not
appear; but the good woman seemed to be superlatively happy. The
commander did not take a seat, but took a stand in front of the company.
He described the two big steamers that were approaching, in answer to a
question put by Mrs. Belgrave.
"Of course you all recognize the shore before you," he continued.
"There isn't much shore there, only a strip of sand, with water beyond
it," added Mrs. Woolridge.
"What country is it?" asked Miss Blanche in a whisper to Louis, who had
his mother on one side of him and the fair maiden on the other.
"Egypt," replied Louis, wondering that she did not know.
"The water you see is Lake Menzaleh," answered the captain. "It is not
much of a lake, as Americans would look at it. It is a sort of lagoon,
covering from five hundred to a thousand square miles, according to
different authorities; but the inundation of the Nile makes varying
areas of water. The Damietta branch of the great river empties into the
sea about thirty miles to the west of us, and this lagoon covers the
region between it and the Suez Canal.
"The lake is separated from the Mediterranean by a narrow strip of land,
which you can see, through which are a number of openings, such as we
find in the sand-spits along the shore of our own country. But unlike
our inlets, they were formerly mouths of the Nile, or at least of
streams connected with it; and all of them have names, as the Mendesian
Mouth, the Tanitic, the Pelusian, and others.
"It is full of islands, on some of which are the remains of Roman towns.
The average depth of the water is not more than three feet; but it
abounds in fish, and it is the abode of vast flocks of aquatic birds,
which are hunted by many English sportsmen, who camp out there to enjoy
the shooting. The morass has been partially drained, which accounts for
the low water in the lake at the present time; and undoubtedly it will
all be above the ordinary level of the Nile at no very distant time.
"The Suez Canal extends in a perfectly straight line, north and south,
through this lake and the low land around it. But we will not meddle
with the canal just yet, for we shall have a great deal of time to talk
about it while we are going through it; for it is a hundred miles long,
and steamers are required to move very slowly, except in the lakes now
forming part of it. As this canal is one of the most important
enterprises ever carried through to a completion, I have asked Mr.
Woolridge to give us an account of its construction and uses. Then I
shall invite you to adjourn to the promenade deck, where I have prepared
something more in relation to Egypt, the 'Land of Goshen.'
"This canal takes its name from the isthmus or city of that name, or the
Red Sea; more properly from the former, as it makes its passage through
it," Mr. Woolridge began. "Our old friend, Ramses II., of whom we have
heard so much in the last four weeks, is said to have been the first to
dig out a Suez Canal, though I cannot inform you by what name he called
it in the Egyptian language; but that was a small affair compared with
the one before us. But our friend's canal got filled up from the amount
of mud and sand lying loose around here.
"Darius I. of Persia cleaned it out, though it was suffered to become
useless again. Then the Mohammedan conquerors of Egypt opened it once
more; but they lacked the modern facilities for handling mud and sand,
and it went to ruin again, and was useless till a comparatively modern
date.
"When Napoleon I. was in Egypt the subject attracted his attention, and
he employed an expert French engineer to examine the matter. This
gentleman declared that the level of the Red Sea was thirty feet higher
than that of the Mediterranean; and this report knocked the scheme
higher than a kite. But in 1841 the English officers employed in this
region proved the fallacy of the French engineer's conclusion, and the
subject came up again for consideration.
"This time it was the Vicompte de Lesseps, another French engineer, who
took up the subject. He was born at Versailles in 1805, had been
educated for the diplomatic profession, and had served his country
acceptably in this capacity at Lisbon, Cairo, Barcelona, and Madrid. In
1854 he began upon the work, and two years later obtained a concession
of certain privileges for his proposed company, which was duly formed,
and began the actual work of construction in 1860. Nine years after it
was completed, and formally opened with extraordinary ceremonies and
festivities, and has now been in successful operation about twenty-two
years. Queen Victoria of England made the distinguished Frenchman a K.
C. S. I."
"What does that mean, papa?" asked Miss Blanche.
"It is a big distinction, and that is all I know about it," replied the
speaker with a laugh; for he was not student enough to look up what he
did not comprehend.
"Knight Commander of the Star of India," added Louis, who had looked up
the abbreviation.
"Thank you, Mr. Belgrave. From 25,000 to 30,000 men were employed upon
the work. It was delayed by the necessity of completing a fresh-water
canal to Ismaïlia, about half way through to Suez, and by some trouble
with Ismail, who had succeeded as viceroy. The original capital of the
company was about forty million dollars of our money; but the total
cost, including the auxiliary works required to put it in running order,
was one hundred million dollars. Yet it is good stock to-day; and all
the steamers that used to be obliged to go around Cape Good Hope pass
through the canal, and did so before some of you were born.
"As the commander observed a little while ago, the canal is 100 miles
long. The width of the water surface is from 150 to 300 feet, though it
has changed somewhat since the canal was built. At the bottom it was 72
feet wide, and the shoalest place has 26 feet in depth. As you see
around you, two breakwaters had to be built, involving an immense
amount of labor and expense; for one of them is nearly 7,000, and the
other a little more than 6,000, feet in length.
"The highest level on the isthmus is 52 feet, so that they did not have
to dig very deep anywhere; and there were several depressions in the
level, which made the work still less. The canal passes through three
lakes: first, Menzaleh, 28 miles; Timsah, 5 miles; and the Bitter Lakes,
23 miles. Every five or six miles there are side basins where one ship
can pass another. That is all I need say at present; but as we are
sailing through, there will be much more to say."
The usual applause followed, and then the commander took the rostrum.