62 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



" Tlio c:in:"il. as dosis^nod, is about 100 miles \on^. Of tliislenirlh, 

 about half is sntlicicntly advanced for the sea-water to veaeh oO 

 miles, — that is, into tin; iiiitldle of the isthmus. It is finishi'd to 

 its full breadth, whieh is 100 yards, or the width of a considerable 

 river, but not to the intended depth of 20 feet. The remainin<2: /JO 

 miles not yet penetrated In" the sea-water are in various states of 

 progress; parts are excavated, parts are underwater, parts will 

 have to be laid under water whieh is to be supplied from a great 

 lake not yet filled, while a good many miles have to wait for 

 blasting operations. To English ears it must sound promising 

 that a good deal of clay has to be cut through ; for nothing can bo 

 dealt with so suecessiully in this cinmtr}' as that material. Tiie 

 completion of the southern half of the canal would look like a very 

 lonjr work, but for the fact of the immense subsiding works being 

 completed, and avast mass of appliances lieing on the spot. Tiio 

 service canal, from the Nile to the mid-point of the salt canal, and 

 branching thence to either extremit}', is an immense work, not 

 less than loO miles long, and in full use for the supply of fresh 

 water for navigation, and for otherwise assisting the work to be 

 done. The port at the Mediterranean end is an immense work, 

 already available. The sea-channel at the Suez end has difficul- 

 ties, but only such as engineers are familiar with. Forty enormous 

 and costlv drcdging-machines are at work on difl'erent parts of 

 the canal, — ehlctly, we conclude, the northern half, — discharging 

 mountains of mud, sand, and clay over the banks or into barges. 

 The rate of expenditure is put at 200,000 pounds per month, or 

 2,^00,000 pounds a year. Our informant calculates that a driving 

 wind, after blowing a month together, will send into the canal, 

 when linished, 500 tons of sand a day, or 15,000 tons a month. 

 This, however, is no more than a single dredging-machine would 

 be able to keep down at a certain moderate cost in coal. The dif- 

 ficulty of kee})ing up the banks of the canal, exposed as they will 

 be to the wash of the steamers, and to a surface often agitated by 

 the wind, is a more serious matter, but one which does not enter 

 into the present question. Upon the whole, it does seem a moral 

 certainty that at least in two or 3 years — for one year seems out 

 of the question — this gvv.iit undertaking, worthy of a heroic 

 age, will be brought to what we may fairly call an actual comple- 

 tion. In the course of the year 1871 we may probably see tlio 

 sea-water of one ocean flowing into the other." 



SUEZ CANAL. 



The following fiirures show the condition of the work on the 

 canal on 1st January, 1809, also the progress made during the 

 past year. The two exhibits, taken together, may give us the 

 data for calculatins: the time when the entire work will be com- 

 j)letcd. The estimates of quantities are given in cubic metres, to 

 \vhich 37 per cent, should be added to show the results in cubic 

 yards. The aggregate amount of earth to be moved, to dig the 

 canal according to the plans adopte*!, was 74,112,130 cubic 



