MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 33 



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more formidably than it has that enterprise. It is the drifting 

 sand of the desert, that constantly moves with the wind, filling up 

 and covering over every obstacle in its path. The railroad man- 

 agers are obliged to be at work constantly to keep their track 

 above ground j~ and it is claimed by many engineers to be prac- 

 tically impossible to keep the canal open, even if it ever is fin- 

 ished. 



A recent report states that the work is progressing favorably, 

 and will be completed in 6 years. It is intended to be 300 feet 

 wide and 25 feet deep. The part near to Suez is being executed 

 in the best possible manner, and if it all shall be finished equal to 

 this section, the Suez Canal will be a work in the engineering line 

 never before approached in the history of that science. 



The line of the canal runs almost due north from a point oppo- 

 site Suez, debouching at Port Said in the Mediterranean. It is 

 already cut to a width and depth sufficient to permit the passage 

 of boats from Suez to Port Said. From Suez north to a distance 

 of 20 miles barges are towed by men or horses, and from that 

 point to the sea small screw steamers ply back and forth. This 

 is done by means of a small channel or ditch cut in the middle of 

 the intended canal, and about 25 feet wide. The ship canal is 

 being cut down on each side of this to the requisite width, but in 

 no place has it reached a sufficient depth. The depth is to be 

 obtained by excavations to a point where the water shall prevent 

 this class of operations, and after that by dredging. The great 

 canal has one feeder from this branch of the Nile to supply it with 

 water, the balance coming from the lake and the two seas that it 

 is intended to connect. 



In the fresh-water portion on February 11, 1867, a vessel from 

 Siam, with packages for the Paris Exhibition, took that route ; and 

 on February 17, a vessel of 80 tons, from Trieste, arrived in the 

 Red Sea, having passed through Egypt by this canal. 







CONTEMPLATED GREAT CANALS. 



Canal des Deux Mers. The French government contemplate a 

 new and vast project, which if carried out will be of incalculable 

 importance to that nation. This is to enlarge the " Canal des 

 Deux Mers," so that large vessels may pass directly from the 

 Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean, without passing under the 

 guns of the fort of Gibraltar. At present the canal connects with 

 the Garonne River at Toulouse, and falls into the Mediterranean 

 near Agde ; the river reaching the ocean at Bordeaux completing 

 the chain of communication. In order to fill the canal when it is 

 enlarged, it is proposed to intercept the innumerable mountain 

 streams from the Pyrenees and mountains of Auvergne, and 

 imprison them in huge reservoirs, whence the water can be drawn' 

 as needed. 



Florida Canal. It is said that a company has been formed, and 

 will soon commence operations, for cutting a ship canal across the 

 upper portion of Florida, connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the 

 Gulf of Mexico. This would be of incalculable benefit to com- 



