THE ORIGIN OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 155 



wish, you to be one of the first to know that I shall be 

 punctual in arrival. What a pleasure it will be to 

 meet again upon the soil of Egypt, where we first 

 came together ! Do not say a word about the piercing 

 of the isthmus before I arrive." 



To Madame Delamalle^ Paris. 



(Diary.) 

 " ALEXANDRIA, Xuveinber 7, 1854. 



" The Messageries steamer, the Lycwgue, landed 

 me at eight this morning at Alexandria. My good 

 friend Euyssenaers and liafouz Pasha, the Minister of 

 Marine, came to meet me on behalf of the Viceroy, and 

 I proceeded in a court carriage to one of his High- 

 ness's villas, about two and a half miles from Alex- 

 andria, on the Mahmoudie Canal. 



" A whole battalion of servants was drawn up on 

 the flight of stone steps, and they saluted me three 

 times, putting out their right hands to the ground 

 and then carrying them up to their foreheads. They 

 were all Turks and Arabs, with the exception of a 

 Greek valet and a Marseilles cook named Ferdinand. 



" Here is a description of my house, which 1 re- 

 member having seen built many years ago by M. de 

 Cerisey, the celebrated naval constructor, and the 

 founder of the Alexandria arsenal, from which he 

 launched in a very short time twelve vessels of the 

 line and twelve frigates. M. de Cerisey contributed 

 in no small measure, under Mehemet Ali, to the 



