CHAPTER XVIII
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SUEZ CANAL
The sea was quite smooth when the Guardian-Mother and her tender arrivedoff Port Said. There was about thirty feet of water off the breakwater;and though there was an extensive basin at the town, the commanderpreferred to anchor outside for purposes he had in view. The trip toCyprus had interrupted the educational work of the tourists, and thiswas the grand object ever uppermost in his mind.
Though this instructive element of the cruise around the world had beenprominent in his thoughts before the steamer sailed from New York, itwas rather indefinite in its details, so that he had failed to make somepreparations for the work which the experience of a year now suggestedto him. In the lectures, conferences, talks, and explanations toindividuals, the professor and himself had felt the want of suitablemaps on a large scale.
At Alexandria he had obtained a large map of Egypt, though it was notjust what was wanted; but it had answered the purpose tolerably well.The subjects which would be next in order were full of interest to him,and were likely to be so to the members of the party; for they includedsome of the older countries of the world, such as Syria, Babylonia,Assyria, Persia, and Arabia. Geographically they were comparativelyunfamiliar to the members of the party, who, unlike the professor, thesurgeon, and Uncle Moses, had not been liberally educated.
The instruction given at the various places on the voyage, and thestudies of the students on the wing, had demonstrated that such mapswere indispensable. But Captain Ringgold was a man of expedients. Everysteamer, especially those engaged in making long voyages, has apaint-shop on board, more or less abundantly supplied with all necessarymaterial. All seamen are required to do plain painting; for such a shipas the Guardian-Mother had to be kept in the nicest condition.
At Alexandria and Cairo the commander had procured such additionalmaterial as was needed for the production of the maps desired. Some ofthe sailors were more skilful in the use of the brush than others; andas soon as the captain mentioned his purpose to the first and secondofficers, they were able to point out a couple of men who had someartistic ideas in their composition.
All the crew were able seamen, and every one of them was skilled in theuse of the sail-needle and palm, though of course in different degrees,as in all other occupations. Some of these had sewed the canvas togetheron which the maps were to be drawn and painted. It was not expected thatanything which would pass the scrutiny of an artist would be produced;only such work as would answer the purpose of illustration.
In Mr. P. Lord Gaskette, the second officer of the ship, CaptainRinggold found his ablest assistant. He was a graduate of one of themost noted colleges of the United States, and had made some progress inthe study of the legal profession. Unfortunately his health had failedhim, and he had turned his attention to artistic pursuits for the sakeof the out-door life to be obtained in sketching. He had taken somelessons in drawing and painting; but his physician had insisted that heshould go to sea. He had been seven years a wanderer over the world,having shipped before the mast, and reached his present position.
In the paint-shop he was quite at home. He was assisted by the twoseamen the most skilled with the brush, while he did the drawinghimself. The large atlas of the world, a very expensive work, belongingto the commander, supplied accurate maps on a small scale, and thesewere transferred to the canvas, eight feet square. During the voyage toCyprus three of these maps had been finished. One of them was the Deltaof Egypt, including the Suez Canal; and the commander declared that itwas handsome enough to adorn any schoolroom.
The Maud had made fast to the ship as usual when she came to anchor, andthe "Big Four" were to report on board as soon as they had put theircraft to rights. The party had mounted the promenade as soon as the lowshore was in sight, and were looking about them at the various objectsin view. Several large English steamers were in sight, including one ofthe P. & O. Line, and the Ophir, the largest and finest of the OrientLine, both bound to India and other countries of the Orient.
"How is your patient this afternoon, Dr. Hawkes?" asked the commander,as he met the physician on his way to the promenade.
"He is doing very well. He has very little pain now; and I think he willbe as well as ever in a fortnight or three weeks, if he will only bereasonable," replied the doctor.
"Reasonable? Doesn't he wish to get well?" asked the commander.
"He wants to talk, and evidently has something on his mind. He desiresan interview with you, Captain, and has asked me to obtain it for him;but I refused to do anything of the kind, for he has some fever hangingabout him, and must be kept as quiet as possible."
"I don't know that I have any business with him, or he with me. Iconsider him one of the most unmitigated villains that ever walked theearth or sailed the seas," added Captain Ringgold. "The scoundrel doesnot seem to have common-sense; for he puts forward the most absurdclaims that ever were invented, and it would not surprise me at all ifhe advanced another against me or Louis, in spite of the overwhelmingdefeat he has just sustained."
"He is the coolest and most impudent rascal I ever heard of. He asksLouis for a vast sum of money, and then politely requests him to becomea prisoner in the cabin of the Fatime as security for the payment of thesum by his trustee;" and the doctor shook his fat sides with laughter atthe absurdity.
"Very likely he has some such proposition to make to me. He reallybelieves, I think, that he has a fair claim for what he has lost, orfailed to obtain, by the miscarriage of all his plots to make a prisonerof Louis and Miss Blanche. All I desire is to get rid of the villain;and as soon as you inform me that he is off your hands I shall put himon shore."
The captain and the doctor joined the party on the promenade. Mr.Gaskette and his assistant were hanging one of the maps completed on theupper deck, where the conferences were usually held. He had assignedsubjects to several members of the party, and he seemed to be anxious tohave them disposed of; for he declared that this locality was one of themost interesting corners of the world to him.
On the promenade the mothers had their sons by their side, and Mrs.Blossom had secured possession of Felix in some manner that did notappear; but the good woman seemed to be superlatively happy. Thecommander did not take a seat, but took a stand in front of the company.He described the two big steamers that were approaching, in answer to aquestion put by Mrs. Belgrave.
"Of course you all recognize the shore before you," he continued.
"There isn't much shore there, only a strip of sand, with water beyondit," added Mrs. Woolridge.
"What country is it?" asked Miss Blanche in a whisper to Louis, who hadhis mother on one side of him and the fair maiden on the other.
"Egypt," replied Louis, wondering that she did not know.
"The water you see is Lake Menzaleh," answered the captain. "It is notmuch of a lake, as Americans would look at it. It is a sort of lagoon,covering from five hundred to a thousand square miles, according todifferent authorities; but the inundation of the Nile makes varyingareas of water. The Damietta branch of the great river empties into thesea about thirty miles to the west of us, and this lagoon covers theregion between it and the Suez Canal.
"The lake is separated from the Mediterranean by a narrow strip of land,which you can see, through which are a number of openings, such as wefind in the sand-spits along the shore of our own country. But unlikeour inlets, they were formerly mouths of the Nile, or at least ofstreams connected with it; and all of them have names, as the MendesianMouth, the Tanitic, the Pelusian, and others.
"It is full of islands, on some of which are the remains of Roman towns.The average depth of the water is not more than three feet; but itabounds in fish, and it is the abode of vast flocks of aquatic birds,which are hunted by many English sportsmen, who camp out there to enjoythe shooting. The morass has been partially drained, which accounts forthe low water in the lake at the present time; and undoubtedly it willall be above the ordinary level of the Nile at no very distant time.
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"The Suez Canal extends in a perfectly straight line, north and south,through this lake and the low land around it. But we will not meddlewith the canal just yet, for we shall have a great deal of time to talkabout it while we are going through it; for it is a hundred miles long,and steamers are required to move very slowly, except in the lakes nowforming part of it. As this canal is one of the most importantenterprises ever carried through to a completion, I have asked Mr.Woolridge to give us an account of its construction and uses. Then Ishall invite you to adjourn to the promenade deck, where I have preparedsomething more in relation to Egypt, the 'Land of Goshen.'
"This canal takes its name from the isthmus or city of that name, or theRed Sea; more properly from the former, as it makes its passage throughit," Mr. Woolridge began. "Our old friend, Ramses II., of whom we haveheard so much in the last four weeks, is said to have been the first todig out a Suez Canal, though I cannot inform you by what name he calledit in the Egyptian language; but that was a small affair compared withthe one before us. But our friend's canal got filled up from the amountof mud and sand lying loose around here.
"Darius I. of Persia cleaned it out, though it was suffered to becomeuseless again. Then the Mohammedan conquerors of Egypt opened it oncemore; but they lacked the modern facilities for handling mud and sand,and it went to ruin again, and was useless till a comparatively moderndate.
"When Napoleon I. was in Egypt the subject attracted his attention, andhe employed an expert French engineer to examine the matter. Thisgentleman declared that the level of the Red Sea was thirty feet higherthan that of the Mediterranean; and this report knocked the schemehigher than a kite. But in 1841 the English officers employed in thisregion proved the fallacy of the French engineer's conclusion, and thesubject came up again for consideration.
"This time it was the Vicompte de Lesseps, another French engineer, whotook up the subject. He was born at Versailles in 1805, had beeneducated for the diplomatic profession, and had served his countryacceptably in this capacity at Lisbon, Cairo, Barcelona, and Madrid. In1854 he began upon the work, and two years later obtained a concessionof certain privileges for his proposed company, which was duly formed,and began the actual work of construction in 1860. Nine years after itwas completed, and formally opened with extraordinary ceremonies andfestivities, and has now been in successful operation about twenty-twoyears. Queen Victoria of England made the distinguished Frenchman a K.C. S. I."
"What does that mean, papa?" asked Miss Blanche.
"It is a big distinction, and that is all I know about it," replied thespeaker with a laugh; for he was not student enough to look up what hedid not comprehend.
"Knight Commander of the Star of India," added Louis, who had looked upthe abbreviation.
"Thank you, Mr. Belgrave. From 25,000 to 30,000 men were employed uponthe work. It was delayed by the necessity of completing a fresh-watercanal to Ismailia, about half way through to Suez, and by some troublewith Ismail, who had succeeded as viceroy. The original capital of thecompany was about forty million dollars of our money; but the totalcost, including the auxiliary works required to put it in running order,was one hundred million dollars. Yet it is good stock to-day; and allthe steamers that used to be obliged to go around Cape Good Hope passthrough the canal, and did so before some of you were born.
"As the commander observed a little while ago, the canal is 100 mileslong. The width of the water surface is from 150 to 300 feet, though ithas changed somewhat since the canal was built. At the bottom it was 72feet wide, and the shoalest place has 26 feet in depth. As you seearound you, two breakwaters had to be built, involving an immenseamount of labor and expense; for one of them is nearly 7,000, and theother a little more than 6,000, feet in length.
"The highest level on the isthmus is 52 feet, so that they did not haveto dig very deep anywhere; and there were several depressions in thelevel, which made the work still less. The canal passes through threelakes: first, Menzaleh, 28 miles; Timsah, 5 miles; and the Bitter Lakes,23 miles. Every five or six miles there are side basins where one shipcan pass another. That is all I need say at present; but as we aresailing through, there will be much more to say."
The usual applause followed, and then the commander took the rostrum.