THE CANAL AND ITS SUGGESTIONS
The tourists had been up long enough to be in excellent condition for
breakfast; and the Asiatic breezes from the south-east were cool and
refreshing, for they came from the mountains of the peninsula of Sinai,
where Moses had received the law from Heaven. There was something
inspiring in this thought to the minds of the more religious members of
the party when the commander announced the proximity of the sacred
mountain after he had asked the blessing.
"How far is Mount Sinai from where we are now?" asked Mrs. Woolridge.
"I cannot tell you just how far it is at this moment, for my charts are
in my cabin," replied Captain Ringgold. "We are not so near it as we
shall be later; but you will all see it after we get into the Red Sea.
We will defer the subject till that time; and I should not have
mentioned it if the south-east wind had not suggested it."
"I got a glance at an enormously big steamer ahead of us just as we were
leaving the promenade," added Mr. Woolridge. "She looked as large as
Noah's Ark, and appeared as though she was sailing over the land."
"Perhaps she was quite as large; for the pilot tells me that the Ophir
is just ahead of us," added the commander.
"What is the Ophir?" asked Mrs. Belgrave.
"She is the largest of the Orient Line of steamers, and one of the
finest ships in the world. I remember that in Smith's Dictionary of the
Bible it says that the ark was larger than any British man-of-war; and
probably the statement is still correct, though by a narrower margin
than when the learned editor completed his work. The Empress of India
and two other barbette ships of her class in the English navy have a
displacement of 14,150 tons, and the last built Cunarder, the Lucania,
exceeds 13,000 tons. The ark was 525 feet long, reducing her 300 cubits
to our measure, which is about the length of the Ophir."
"I should like to go on board of one of those great British steamers
that sail to the other side of the earth," said Mrs. Belgrave.
"Possibly we may have an opportunity to do so at Ismaïlia or Suez. I
will ascertain when we arrive at these places," the captain replied to
the lady; whose simple requests and hints were law to the gallant
commander, who was a bachelor in the best possible preservation.
The company returned to the promenade without any unnecessary delay; for
all of them were interested in the canal itself, and in the sights to be
seen on its shores. The great steamer ahead of the Guardian-Mother was
much nearer than when the party went below, and it soon appeared that
she had "taken the ground." But it proved to be only a temporary hitch,
for she went ahead again before the American craft reached her.
"They are at work all the time on the canal to prevent these accidents,
and several changes have already been made in the original plan of the
canal," said the commander. "Monsieur Lesseps, who projected this
wonderful enterprise, and whose energy and perseverance carried it
through to its completion, made a voyage through the canal in the
Austral, one of the largest of the Orient Line, though not so large as
the one ahead of us, for the purpose of observing any defects. The
result has been that several improvements have been adopted which it is
expected will remove all the difficulties."
"Is Monsieur Lesseps still living, Captain?" inquired Captain Scott.
"He is at the age of eighty-seven this year. His success with the Suez
Canal led him to undertake the construction of the Panama Canal. The
company was formed with the prestige of the great engineer's success on
this isthmus, and the shares were readily sold. The work was begun; but
it was a more difficult undertaking than Suez, and the company suspended
payment four years ago. Speculators and 'boodlers' had 'monkeyed' with
the finances, and the vast scheme is a failure. Whether it will ever be
accomplished remains a question for the future."
"The poor old man and his son were dragged into the mire, and were even
committed to prison, though they were soon released," added Mr.
Woolridge. "I think he was a great man, and I was exceedingly sorry for
his misfortunes."
"He will never receive the honor he deserves on our side of the
Atlantic, I fear," added Captain Ringgold. "After rich and powerful
potentates had rejected the scheme, Lesseps still cherished it. Over
sixty years ago, when he was an employe in the office of the French
consul at Tunis, he was sent to Alexandria on business. Here he was
subjected to a residence of some time in quarantine. He was supplied
with books by the French consul there, and among them was Lapère's
Mémoire. The author was Napoleon's engineer, whose report that the level
of the two seas was not uniform, had set aside the schemes to connect
them by a canal. Lesseps considered his views, and some years after made
the acquaintance of Lieutenant Waghorn, favorably known in connection
with the Overland Route to India by the way of Egypt. The route by
descending the Euphrates River to the head of the Persian Gulf was also
considered. It appears, therefore, that Lesseps was cogitating his great
enterprise for nearly forty years before the work was completed."
"I cannot see the immense importance of this canal as you gentlemen
represent it; but I suppose it is because I am a woman," said Mrs.
Belgrave.
"It is of the greatest importance to England," replied Mr. Woolridge.
"Over twenty-five hundred British vessels went through the canal in
1888; for England has a vast empire in Asia, to say nothing of Australia
and other colonies in the East. Of other nations of Europe, France sent
two hundred and seventy-two ships through the canal, Holland one hundred
and twenty-four, Germany one hundred and twenty-two, and others less
than a hundred each."
"But how many American vessels went through?" asked Captain Scott.
"None were mentioned in the report I saw; and the number must have been
very few. The canal is of vastly less importance to the United States
than to England, France, Holland, and Spain, all of which have colonies
in the East. Since the war, our maritime commerce has been immensely
reduced, though our ships still make voyages to India, China, and
various ports of the East. Then the distance saved to our vessels would
be much less. Roughly estimated,--in fact, guessed at,--I should say
that the distance from New York to Ceylon, near the southern cape of
India, is four-fifths of that around Cape Good Hope. The heavy dues for
passing through the canal are an item, and it would not pay to save two
thousand five hundred miles out of twelve thousand five hundred."
"But the saving from London to Bombay is forty-four per cent," added Mr.
Woolridge. "From Marseilles to the same port it is nearly sixty per
cent. The United States 'is not in it'"--
"_Are_ not in it, papa," interposed Miss Blanche with a silvery laugh.
"No, my dear; _is_ not in it," returned the magnate, with a loving
smile. "I know the government is said to have ruled for the plural, but
I don't accept the ruling. Why, what does _E pluribus Unum_ mean if not
the singular number? For what did we fight the War of the Rebellion if
not to prove that the United States _is_ one government, and _are_ not
forty-four of them at the present moment."
"But the grammar, papa?" asked Blanche.
"The grammar is all right, my child. What are the news, Blanche? The
company is or are, just as you pay your money and take your choice,"
said the father, chucking the fair maiden under the chin.
"Our friend is quite right, and, so far as the canal is concerned, the
United States _is_ not in it," added the commander, laughing at the turn
the conference had taken.
"How far have we gone so far, Captain?" asked Miss Blanche.
"Ten o'clock," he replied, consulting his watch. "We have been moving at
this snail's pace for five hours, and made twenty-five miles, or forty
kilometres. In five more we shall come to El Kantara, where the caravan
route from Egypt into Asia crosses the canal."
"Do the camels have to swim across the canal?" asked Mrs. Blossom.
"They do not; but it cost the canal company some money to save them the
trouble of doing so," replied the captain. "El Kantara means 'the
bridge;' and there used to be one across the outlet of a lake there. The
bridge was removed by the company, and a ferry substituted for it."
"I suppose all vessels have to go through the canal in the daytime,"
said Mrs. Woolridge.
"Not at all; the system of signals is arranged for day or night. Vessels
with an electric search-light or projector which will show up an object
three-quarters of a mile ahead are allowed to navigate the canal at
night. We could do so if so disposed; but we wish to see the country.
The channel is lighted at night by illuminated buoys."
"What sort of boys?" inquired Mrs. Blossom, who was struggling to grow
wise, and had a long distance to travel in that direction.
"Iron ones," answered the captain.
"Iron boys!" exclaimed the good lady. "How could they point out the way
through the canal?"
"They swim in the water, and the pilots understand the language they
speak," said the commander gravely.
"Iron boys that swim and speak!" ejaculated the excellent lady. "I think
you must be fooling with us, Captain Ringgold."
"You have put your foot in it again!" exclaimed Mrs. Belgrave in a
whisper. "Don't say another word!"
"A buoy is a floating body in the shape of two inverted cones united at
their bases, made of copper or plate iron. They are used all over the
world to mark the bounds of channels, sometimes with fog-bells on them,
rung by the action of the waves," continued the commander. "They are
moored to the bottom here as elsewhere, and have a gas-light burning on
them all the time."
"A gas-light!" exclaimed Mrs. Woolridge; "where is the gas-house?"
"There are several of them on the canal, and not one for each buoy,
which is filled with gas, and contains a supply that will last for six
weeks. Some folks who never went to sea suppose a lighthouse is to give
light on the water, when they are only to mark certain localities, and
to give ranges to navigators. These buoys are for the same purpose, and
not to light up the canal. But here is El Kantara."
"I think you said this place was on the road to Syria," said the
magnate. "People who go to the Holy Land from Egypt, and most of them do
go that way, take a steamer from Alexandria to Joppa, or Jaffa as it is
now generally called, and do not go by camel-back over this road."
"They do not; but they may go over it at some time in the near future,"
added Professor Giroud. "The Egypto-Syrian Railroad has been projected,
and it is to pass over this route."
The travellers found quite a village at El Kantara, with a hotel, and
other places for the refreshment of travellers. Passengers from the
steamers seldom land here. The ship proceeded on her way, and the party
caught a glimpse at a boat-load of camels crossing the canal. From this
place to Fort Said the course had been perfectly straight through Lake
Menzaleh, which ends here.
"If you will look to the left," said the commander after a time, "you
will see a considerable body of water. That is the upper part of Lake
Balah, through which the canal passes. About a mile and a half distant
is a lot of sandstone rocks like that of the Memnon statues. They appear
to belong to an altar, and the inscription informs the visitor who can
read it that they were parts of a temple erected by Seti I. in honor of
his father, Ramses I., and completed by Ramses II., his son. There may
have been a city here, but there are no signs of it now."
The steamer passed through the Balah Lakes; for there are several of
them, containing some islands. The canal is protected by high banks of
yellow sand, and beyond is the desert, with hills in the distance.
Coming out of the lakes, the canal passed through a deep cutting, which
was the worst place encountered in doing the work. It is the highest
ground on the isthmus, averaging fifty-two feet above the sea; and a
ridge of this territory is from seventy to one hundred feet high,
through which the digging had to be carried. There are some curves here,
the canal is the narrowest in all its course, and vessels more
frequently get aground here than in any other portion. The road to Syria
passed over this elevation, which is called "the causeway" in Arabic.
The Ophir went through without sticking in the sand, and the
Guardian-Mother was likely to do as well. A solitary mosque and a châlet
of the Khedive were passed, and the ship was approaching Lake Timsah
when the gong sounded for lunch, and the air of the desert had given the
tourists an appetite which caused them to evacuate the promenade with
hasty steps.