543° Advantageous Situation of Egypt for Commerce. [July 1, 
about the same height: without doubt, an 
opening of about forty feet wide would 
be sufficient to reduce any remaining 
inequality, and indeed turn it in favor 
of the Mediterranean. In summer the 
Jevel of the water being much more 
considerable than during winter, and 
the rivers which discharge into that sea 
much less, its level ought then to be 
remarkably low, and rise again on ‘the 
return of the latter season; a difference 
of this kind has not yet however been 
observed, either in its harbours or on its 
shores. Hence we may reasonably con- 
clude, that the level of the Mediterra- 
nean is the. very same as that of the 
Ocean; and if there be any difference 
in respect to the Red Sea, it may be 
accounted for by the strong flow of the 
tides which is remarkable there; while 
on the contrary, in the Mediterranean, 
it is so-trifling as to escape notice: 
yet supposing such a_ disproportion 
between the levels of these two seas 
actually to exist, no European engineer 
would consider a circumstance a matter 
of difficulty, which a couple of sluices 
or locks could easily obviate, All far- 
ther apprehension concerning this chan- 
nel is ridiculous; for sucly a channel has 
already been, and its remains are still to 
be traced in the sands of the desert. 
Sesostris, that virtuous and maguanimous 
sovereign, whose wild ambition of con- 
quering the world deserves to be par- 
doned in consideration of the innumer- 
able benefits which he bestowed upon 
his subjects, was the first who formed 
the idea of uniting the waters of the 
Nile to those of the Red Sea. Necho 
was the second king of Egypt who 
attempted that junction; but the death 
of 100,000 workmen could not fail to 
protract that monarch’s prosecution of 
his scheme, andthe work, when consi- 
derably advanced, was, in consequence, 
abandoned; though afterwards renewed 
under Darius, the son of Fystaspes, 
This channel was almost finished at the 
time that the unfounded dread that all 
Lower, Egypt would be inundated by the 
Red Sea, becoming prevalent, occcasi- 
oned it to be entirely given up; and it 
was reserved to 'Ptolomy Philadelphus, 
better instructed than all his predeces- 
sors, to finish the great undertaking, 
to extend the trade of Egynt beyond 
its former limits, and raise it to the 
hichest degree of prosperity. This chan- 
ne] commenced at the Pelusiac arm 
or branch near Bubastis, a few miles 
to the north of Bilbeysais, and ended at 
Arsinoe, our present Suez. According 
to historians, its width was 100 ells, 
and its depth so great as to render it 
passable for the largest ships of that 
time. | 
On account of the sand, they were 
obliged to allow it nearly one hundred 
and fifty miles in levgth. With such a 
channel, there is no doubt but that the 
skill at present applied to naval objects, 
inight without diiticulty convert the lake © 
of Menzala into a™harbour capable of 
receiving vessels of the greatest burden, 
to deepen the mouth of it, and render it 
as well navigable as give it a communica- 
‘tion with the channels of Salatrich, which 
ought to begin near Cairo. 
All the country between the lake of 
Menzala and the Red Sea, is flat and 
low, and the chief difficulty would seem- 
ingly be prevented by fixing the sand, 
which the inundations of the Nile, 
and cultivation, are alone able to effect. 
The shortening of the passage is evident, 
with respect to merchandize bound to any 
part of the coast of the Mediterranean ; 
and though this advantage does not seem 
so strikingly in favor of the harbours on 
the cuast of the Atlantic Ocean, or of the 
Baltic, yet time will-be saved by chu- 
sing the route by the original mart 
through «Egypt... Departing from the 
Straits, you willat least arrive considerably 
sooner in Egypt than at the Cape of 
Good Hope; and the navigation of the 
Mediterranean is beyond coniparison less 
dangerous than that of the southern parts 
of the Ocean. Who does not know that 
the first name bestowed by the Portu.” 
guese on the Cape was the Tempestuous 
Promontory, or the Cape of Storms. 
Assisted by the monsoons, you wiil 
arrive much sooner from Suez, at any 
harbour of Hindostan, than if you had 
set out from the Cape; and of course the 
sane expedition wall attend the home- 
ward passage. Itis true, that unexpe- 
rienced seamen have exaggerated the 
dangers of the Red Sea, asserting 
that it is narrow, full of banks, and 
liced all along its coasts with rocks; 
but without considering this sea as 
rarely subject to severe storms, the 
constant winds always allow the naviga- 
tor to kecp the middle of the chan= 
nel, and afford a speedy voyage from 
one end of it to the other. Besides, 
there are several excellent -harbours on 
its coasts, in which ships may at all times 
be sheltered; and a better knowledge of 
their 
