THE ORIGIN OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 257 



for conveying sweet water to the men employed on 

 the isthmus. 



" There would be two secondary branches of the 

 Sweet Water Canal above Lake Timsah, one towards 

 Suez, the other towards Pelusium. The expenses of 

 the project are estimated at seven and a-half millions. 



* ' The last question examined by us is as to whether 

 the capital invested in this work would yield a fair 

 return, and this, leaving out of consideration all 

 general considerations as to the rapid extension of 

 traffic in all parts of the world, can be answered in 

 the affirmative upon more special grounds according to 

 the most recent statistics. The total value of the 

 exchanges between Europe and North America upon 

 the one hand, and the countries beyond the Cape of 

 Good Hope and Cape Horn on the other, exceed a 

 hundred millions sterling, and this total is certain to 

 be still higher by the time that the canal is open. 

 These goods represent, at the very moderate estimate of 

 24 a-ton, six million tons, and it is fair to imagine 

 that nearly the whole of this freight will, in a very 

 short time, go through the canal. But if we take 

 only half of it and put the charge at ten francs a ton, 

 we shall find that there will be still a great saving 

 for ships using the canal; and we are so convinced 

 that the above estimates will be rapidly exceeded that 

 we suggest that the company shall insert in its 

 statutes a clause providing that the rates of charge 

 should be lowered as soon as the dividend reached 20 



VOL. i. s 



