1 88 RECOLLECTIONS Of FORTY YEARS. 



of the country, lie could not foresee that any difficulty 

 would be raised by England. I replied that I was 

 of the same opinion, and that the question, formerly 

 so serious, of the opening of the Suez Canal being 

 now extricated from the political difficulties which 

 had obscured it, became a mere matter of practical 

 possibility and finding the money. As regards the 

 practicability of the scheme, men of science had 

 already pronounced in its favour, as others would do ; 

 while as regards money, it is certain not to run short 

 for a work which will not only enrich the trade of the 

 world, but will, according to the most modest estimate, 

 be a profitable speculation for shareholders. It is 

 agreed that I shall send a letter to Mr. Bruce, 

 enclosing a copy of my memorandum and of the 

 firman, and the Viceroy expresses himself as satisfied 

 with the course of this interview. 



u Kosnig Bey, the former tutor to the Yiceroy, who 

 is now his private secretary, is ordered to translate 

 the documents relating to the canal into Turkish." 



" CAIRO, November 25, 1854. 



" The Yiceroy had asked me, without giving any 

 reason, to go to the citadel at 9 A.M., and upon enter- 

 ing the grand divan I find the Yiceroy seated at the 

 same spot where his aged father, Mehemet Ali, had 

 often received me, and where he once told me the 

 story of the massacre of the Mamelukes. All the 

 functionaries came to congratulate the Yiceroy upon 



