THE ORIGIN OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 151 



culties which you are heaping up for yourself. The 

 object is to bring about the liquidation of the present 

 company, and substitute for it another which is 

 already in course of formation. There is some talk, 

 in addition, of another company composed of large 

 bankers.' 



" If I were in Paris my first step would be to show 

 the statesman in question the letter I had received. 

 I should ask him to request the engineer if he had 

 made any observations more or less favourable to the 

 course of our works, which had been directed by his 

 colleagues of the Ponts-et-Chaussees, to communicate 

 these observations, so that we might have them con- 

 trolled and verified by four of the most distinguished 

 of his colleagues, MM. Tostain and Eenaud, in- 

 spectors-general, and the engineers MM. Pascal and 

 de Fourcy, who are just coming out to Egypt. 



" With regard to the inheritance of the Suez Canal, 

 it is not upon the point of being divided ; we have 

 given sufficient proofs of being alive, and we are, 

 thank God, in pretty good health. Our first steps 

 were attended with difficulties, and our childhood was 

 a stormy one, but we have reached the age of man- 

 hood. We intend to prove that, if we have been able 

 to constitute ourselves financially, without the assist- 

 ance of great capitalists, so, with the help of able 

 engineers, we shall be able to complete our work, 

 without delivering ourselves to great speculators, who 

 would not be sorry to absorb a part of our share- 



