THE ORIGIN OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 117 



ture on the 21st for the purpose of constituting the 

 company, and I have sent them copies of my letters 

 of the 28th and 30th ult. to Sir H. Bulwer and M. 

 Thouvenel. As the political question with regard to 

 England has been left to our government, and as the 

 tacit adhesion of the Porte has been made sufficiently 

 clear, there is no reason for delaying any further the 

 organisation of the company. 



" M. Thouvenel approves of my plans, and sees no 

 further need for me to remain here ; for, as I have 

 pointed out to him, if I awaited here the decision of 

 the Imperial Government, I should be obliged to sub- 

 mit to the delay which is certain to occur in the nego- 

 tiations between Paris and London, whereas I am 

 anxious to get our board of directors together. 



" Mr. Stephenson admits, in a letter to The Times, 

 that he only visited a part of the isthmus. I know 

 what part that is, for I myself saw the tracks of his 

 carriage wheels, which did not extend more than a 

 league beyond Suez. He omitted the most essential 

 part of the excursion viz., to' the Bitter Lakes, from 

 Lake Timsah to Pelusium and the Mediterranean 

 coast, for that is where the only difficulties were to be 

 met with, difficulties which ill-will and ignorance 

 have been pleased to exaggerate. "With regard to the 

 substance of his letter, it seems to me to contain only 

 bare statements, without any argumentative reply to 

 the reports of the International Commission, or to the 

 scientific observations of Messrs. Paleacapa, de Ne- 



