no 



Mr. J. F. Bateman on the Svez Canal. 



[Jan. 6, 



width varying with the character of the material cut through. Near 

 Port Said, aud through the shallow lake of Menzaleh, the material is very 

 sandy ; and here and elsewhere, under similar circumstances, the slopes 

 must be protected by stone pitching or facing, or they will wash down 

 by the action of passing vessels, and the material thus deposited in 

 the bottom of the canal must be removed by dredging. Further south, 

 the material generally becomes more argillaceous and stony ; and here the 

 slopes will be much more easily maintained, though nearly throughout the 

 whole length of the canal some stone protection at the level of the water 

 will be required. 



Before reaching Lake Timsah, which lies about midway between Port 

 Said and Suez, the canal passes through the deep cutting of El Guisr, which 

 at its greatest depth is 85 feet to the bottom of the canal. The lower 

 part of this excavation, at and a little above the level of the water, con- 

 sists of soft clay, above which is a concreted mass of shells and sand ; 

 and this is covered by loose sand liable to be acted on by the wind. The 

 canal here is curved and narrow, and ought to be improved in both re- 

 spects. It is again restricted in width through the deep cutting at 

 Serapeum ; but here, the material being argillaceous and strong, the slope 

 will be easily maintained in shape. From the Bitter Lakes to Suez it is 

 a wide, noble, and well-finished canal. 



Out of the whole length, nearly 30 miles are through Lake Timsah and 

 the Bitter Lakes, b\ miles in the first, and 23^ in the latter. In these 

 lakes a deep channel has been dredged out, which is marked by buoys and 

 stakes. These vast sheets of water in the midst of the Desert, on which 

 so many noble vessels were floating, had been but a few months before 

 mere dry depressions, covered by a stratum of salt. The filling them with 

 water commenced in February from the Mediterranean, and in July from 

 the Red Sea. They were filled by the beginning of October, thus belying 

 one of the many unfavourable prophecies, that the absorption and evapo- 

 ration would be so great that they would never fill at all, or, if they did, the 

 current inwards in both directions would be so great as to be destructive of 

 the canal. 



On our voyage from Port Said to near Lake Timsah there was a cur- 

 rent setting against us towards the Mediterranean. We anchored about 

 J mile from the end of this portion of the canal, and at daylight the next 

 morning there was a current in the same direction of nearly 1| mile an 

 hour. Our time of starting from Lake Timsah was purposely delayed till 

 near midday, that we might have the tide from the Red Sea against us, 

 and deep water over the rocks at Serapeum. The current towards Lake 

 Timsah was strong ; and on the following morning, between the Bitter Lakes 

 and Suez, it ran at 3| miles per hour, but a strong southerly wind accom- 

 panied the tide. We had no opportunity of making observations our- 

 selves, or of obtaining information ; but my impression is that at this season 



