EGYPT. 



237 



at his disposal is to consist of 1,500 men, se- 

 lected from the Viceroy's best troops in Sou- 

 dan, and placed under the command of an ex- 

 perienced officer. Hostile operations were to 

 commence in the country of the Bari tribe, 

 which, though nominally under the Egyptian 

 rule, has hitherto refused to recognize it. Five 

 iron river steamers were ordered by Baker Bey 

 in England. The Egyptian Government spared 

 no expense in order to secure the success of 

 the expedition, the cost of the preliminary 

 outfits, etc., amounting to 25,000. This ex- 

 penditure, however, was expected to be re- 

 covered in the first year of the expedition. 



By far the most important event in the 

 history of Egypt, during the year 1869, was the 

 opening of the Suez Canal. The canal com- 

 mences at Port Sa'id, 140 miles from Alex- 

 andria, is about 120 miles long, and runs to 

 Suez through Lakes Menzaleh, Timsah, and 

 Amer. The waters of the Mediterranean were 

 admitted into the Bitter Lakes with com- 

 plete success, on March 18th. The Viceroy of 

 Egypt was present, and expressed his thorough 

 confidence in the speedy completion of the canal. 

 In September a steamer, with M. de Lesseps 

 on board, made the passage along the whole 

 length of the canal in fifteen hours. Thus was 

 the practicability of the great work, which so 

 many scientific men and politicians have labored 

 to prove the most costly and extravagant of 

 chimeras, conclusively established. 



According to soundings, taken all the way 

 through the canal in October, the least depth 

 in it was twenty feet, and the remaining ob- 

 ptacles were being rapidly removed. The 

 work was so vigorously pushed, that, in the 

 beginning of November, 1869, only 1^- million 

 cubic metres of earth remained to be dredged 

 from the bed of the canal to give it the maxi- 

 mum depth of 8 metres (=26 feet). In fact, 

 M. Lesseps gave formal notice that the Suez 

 Canal would be opened throughout to navi- 

 gation on November 17, 1869. For this occa- 

 sion an invitation had been extended to 

 crowned heads. The Sultan declined the invi- 

 tation, but France was represented by the 

 Empress, Austria by the Emperor, Prussia by 

 the crown-prince, Italy by Prince Amadeus. 

 The preliminaries commenced at Port Sa'id on 

 November 15th. The Emperor of Austria 

 landed at noon, and was received by the Khed- 

 ive with great ceremony and a magnificent 

 military and civic display. The houses were 

 decorated, arches were raised over the princi- 

 pal streets, hundreds of flags were flying, and 

 salutes were exchanged between the fleet and 

 the shore. At night the town and harbor were 

 ablaze with fireworks and illuminations. The 

 rigging of the men-of-war and the shipping in 

 the harbor were hung with lanterns of every 

 color, and showers of rockets were rising and 

 falling. The Khedive gave a grand ball on board 

 of his yacht. It was attended by the Emperor, 

 Francis Joseph, and all the distinguished guests 

 assembled at Port Said. On November 16th the 



Empress Eugenie arrived at Alexandria, and 

 was received by the Viceroy and the Austrian 

 Emperor, and landed amid the thundering of 

 the cannon and the acclamations of the multi- 

 tudes which lined the shore. On November 

 17th, the French imperial yacht Aigle, with 

 the Empress Eugenie on board, and followed 

 by forty vessels, anchored at Isma'ilia, having 

 passed through the first part of the Suez Canal. 

 The trip of the first detachment of the fleet 

 with visitors was made from Port Said to 

 Isma'ilia in eight and a half hours ; they were 

 met by four steamers from Suez, the southern 

 terminus of the canal. On November 18th 

 thirty-four steamers arrived at Isma'ilia, with 

 an average tonnage of one thousand tons each. 

 The buildings in Ismailia were filled with 

 guests, and the surrounding plains covered with 

 the tents of the native tribes, which were as- 

 sembled there in immense numbers. On the 

 morning of the 19th of November, the fleet of 

 steamers sailed for Suez, the imperial yacht 

 Aigle, bearing the Empress Eugenie, taking 

 the lead. In the evening they arrived at the 

 light-house in the Bitter Lakes, and anchored 

 there for the night. On November 21st, the 

 canal-inauguration fleet, consisting of forty- 

 five steamers, arrived at Suez, reaching the 

 Ked Sea. None were obliged to employ pilots. 

 The only difficulty they had was owing to their 

 numbers. Some were crowded on the banks 

 of the canal several times, but they got off 

 without trouble, the sandy bottom neither 

 holding nor hurting them. On leaving Ismailia 

 several steamers fouled with each other, but 

 no serious damage was done. The water in 

 the canal between Suez and Ismailia is full 

 twenty feet deep at the shallowest spot, and in 

 several parts it is not less than twenty-five feet 

 in depth ; but at all these points the canal can 

 easily be deepened. Steamers drawing fifteen 

 feet can navigate the canal from Port Said to 

 Suez with ease, in fifteen hours. The water 

 does not wash away the banks as much as was 

 apprehended. The complete success of the 

 work exceeded all expectations. The imperial 

 yacht Aigle, with the Empress on board, and 

 the entire fleet left Suez on November 22d, and 

 reached the Mediterranean on the next day. 

 The success of the inauguration was complete. 

 The following table will show the saving 

 effected in distance by the canal over the Cape 

 route between the ports named and Point de 

 Galle, Ceylon, which is chosen as representing 

 a point of mean distance in the Eastern seas : 



M. de Lesseps estimates that from 2,000,000 

 to 3,000,000 tons will pass through the canal 

 during 1870, and that this amount will be 



