April 11, 1859.] PIM ON THE ISTHMUS OF SUEZ. 197 



the attention of those most interested in the matter will be given to 

 the attainment of so desirable an object. 



The President. — We have known Captain Pirn on various occasions. We 

 recollect him as the gallant Arctic officer v^ho offered to go in search of 

 Franklin across Siberia, and we have known him, indeed, in various expe- 

 ditions in search of our lost friend and his companions. Again, he is the indi- 

 vidual who walked across that great mass of ice to Banks Land, to rescue 

 M'Clure and his companions; for, had not Captain Pirn performed that 

 journey, Sir Robert M'Clure might never have revisited this country. We 

 farther know that Captain Pim distinguished himself in the Baltic and in 

 the late war in China, in which he was severely wounded and honourably won 

 his promotion, and now he appears before us as a geographical statist. The 

 paper has a very modest title, but it embraces a variety of important topics. 

 He has analysed the different lines of route across Egypt, whether by railroad 

 or canal, and has laid before us a plan of his own. I do not pretend to 

 compare the merits of these various plans, but I am bound to say that Captain 

 Pim has ably developed the observations and deductions of our very dis- 

 tinguished associate Mr. Robert Stephenson, whose surveys in Egypt are well 

 known to geographers and the public, and who in his last visit was accom- 

 panied by the author of this memoir. 



General W. Monteith, f.r.g.s. — It is great presumption in me to offer an 

 opinion regarding a great work after the statement made by the able engineer who 

 has lately been engaged expressly in the examination of the proposed Suez Canal. 

 It has always been a subject which I had taken great interest in, and I was 

 convinced of its practicability till I heard from Mr. Stephenson that no differ- 

 ence existed between the levels of the Red Sea and Mediterranean, which I 

 had understood would afford a sufficient current to keep the Canal open. 

 That not being the case, I at once ceased to consider the work practicable, so 

 as to allow large vessels to pass through either loaded or empty. Excavating 

 a canal of any dimensions might be accomplished, but it would lead to no 

 result when it came out on a shallow coast, which would render the Canal 

 inaccessible. It appears from history that at two different periods a com- 

 munication did exist, and on both occasions the Canal did not go direct to the 

 sea, but joined the Nile ; but neither was intended or required for large 

 vessels. This I think offers no considerable difficulty even at present. I have 

 three times been at Suez, and on one occasion I visited a wall or embank- 

 ment about three miles from Suez (to the east), which was said to have been 

 built by a sultan of Egypt, to shut up the mouth of the canal, to prevent an 

 Arab invasion. Whether this is correct or not I do not pretend to say. The 

 question of a great ship canal is I think set at rest from the deposits left by 

 the Nile to the east of Alexandria. But a small canal, joining one of the 

 branches of that river, though it would not answer as a great point of 

 transit for the world in general, would be a vast advantage to Egypt and 

 the small vessels navigating the Mediterranean, but be certainly no advantage 

 to the trade of England. Any plan which does not inchide bringing water to 

 Suez will be imperfect, whether by canal or railway, as proposed by Mr. 

 Stephenson. I again apologise for offering an opinion in presence of several 

 so much better able to judge. 



Mr. George Rennie, f.r.g.s. — As one of those who dissent somewhat from 

 the opinions of Captain Pim regarding the canal, perhaps I may be allowed to 

 look at the subject in an engineering point of view. I have read the state- 

 ments of M. Lesseps, and I find nothing in them to justify the assertion that 

 the canal is impracticable. In the first place, that canal is on the most direct 

 line between Suez and the Mediterranean, and, with one or two small excep- 

 tions, it is nearly upon the level. Next, with regard to the alleged unfavour- 



