j2ftA PIM ON THE ISTHMUS OF SUEZ. [April 11, ;859. 



" The opinions of the late Mr. Renclel and Mr. M'Clean are opposed to Mr. 

 Robert Stephenson's plan. 



" Messrs. Rendel and M'Clean proposed to construct a ship canal in nearly 

 a direct line between Suez and Port Said. The level of top-water throughout 

 the whole length (93 miles) to be 23 feet above low-water of the Medi- 

 terranean Sea. The embankment to be carried into the deep water of the sea 

 at each extremity, so as to avoid the necessity of dredging, and the locks to be 

 constructed similar to the sea lock of the Caledonian Canal. Mr. George 

 Eennie considers the cutting of the canal, as proposed by the engineers of the 

 International Commission, perfectly prr.cticable. It will therefore be seen 

 that there exists in this country a great variety of opinion as to the precise 

 mode in which the cutting should be effected. 



*' Captain Pim alluded in his paper to the great mortality caused by the 

 making of the Mahmoudieh Canal, with what I considered questionable 

 policy, seeing that if the argument holds good against the canal, it must neces- 

 sarily do so with equal force against his own plan for a railway ; but lest the 

 example he has so prominently brought forward should cause the construction 

 of canals or railways in Egypt to be viewed with disfavour, I willingly, in 

 our joint justification, come forward with a few facts which, I hope, will effec- 

 tually tend to dispel the fears his paper may have engendered on these points, 

 and I shall do so with reference to the very Mahmoudieh Canal in question. 



" On the 10th of April, 1856, 115,000 men commenced the work of cleans- 

 ing, and the canal was re-opened for navigation on the 5 th of May. The 

 cleansing of the great Mahmoudieh Canal has been accomplished in less than 

 three weeks. For some time back it had been getting choked up with mud, 

 and although the traffic upon it was extremely active, it was becoming some- 

 what difficult. It was reported that his Highness the Viceroy would appear 

 personally on the scene of action ; and the work, confided to almost innumer- 

 able multitudes, was carried through with marvellous rapidity. Neverthe- 

 less the canal is not under twenty leagues in length and very wide ; but the 

 work had been systematically apportioned, and each working party was 

 allowed to withdraw as soon as the portion of the task assigned to it was 

 completed. The food, moreover, was good, and all passed off for the best. 



" There was no less than 3,000,000 of cubic metres of muddy sediment to 

 remove from the bed of the canal, which used to form a carriage road, 10 

 metres in breadth, between Alexandria and the Nile. The work had to be 

 completed in haste in order that the workmen might return to their villages 

 and reap the harvest, which becomes ripe towards the end of April. The time 

 to be taken up in the work was accordingly fixed at one month, and the number 

 of workmen to be employed at 67,000. The governors of the various provinces, 

 appreciating the necessity for saving time, supplied more than 100,000 work- 

 men, who had to be prevented from working through the night. 



" The work was completed in twenty-two days, notwithstanding the number 

 of subterraneous springs, and the difficult nature of the material to be dealt 

 vs'ith, and notwithstanding, moreover, the falling in of a considerable part of 

 the walls of the canal. The great Mahmoudieh Canal may be looked upon as 

 an entirely new work from its increased width and greater draught of water, 

 and the excellent road running beside it. 



" Although the task came quite unexpectedly, and the workmen toiled with 

 ardour in the midst of water and mud, the number of sick did not amount ^o 

 more than five in a thousand, and the workmen were always well supplied 

 with necessaries, a circumstance which forms a striking contrast with what 

 occurred at the first digging of the canal, when more than 20,000 men perished 

 through the deficiency of provisions, water, and proper tools, and the unskilful 

 distribution of the work. 



" The Fellahs possess a positive talent for all descriptions of earthwork ; for 



