in favour of sharing in it, and upholding untarnished and inviolate the honour of the British flag, and say, "Who quarrels with England, quarrels with us, her sons, her children, her Colonies; and we will aid her to our utmost, as children of the common stock." Mr. WILSON Could not be quite so sanguine as the previous speaker, though he congratulated him upon the tone he had adopted. It was not at all likely that the colonial policy of England should be consistent, settled, and understandable, when even colonists themselves were not agreed upon fundamental points. How could men engaged in delving, in shearing, in lumbering, and so forth, who were spread over the face of the whole world, under different climates, different circumstances, and, in some instances, diverging interests, agree upon questions which were not understood at the great centre? No! It was unjust to look to the Colonies for agreement upon a policy. If ever a wise, sound, and just colonial policy was to be instituted, it must originate at head-quarters. How was it possible, that men, living in an out of the way place, having roads to make, churches to build, and so forth, could entertain very sound opinions, or inaugurate a comprehensive scheme for the whole of the Colonies. Mr. BARRETT felt certain none of the Colonies wished to be separated from the mother country. Between that and a republic there was no medium, and the general feeling was, from a republic, God deliver them! That was a prayer in which he joined most heartily from some years' experience as a resident in one. Lord BURY, M.P., in closing the discussion, said, whatever views might be entertained as to the paper itself, all would agree that it was most interesting, and one other point of agreement would be that Mr. Cattanach's views as to a possible independence, were at any rate premature. The speaker felt certain that the views of the whole country would be that the integrity of the Empire should be maintained at all hazards. The only thing was the difference of opinion as to the way in which it should be maintained. What remained to be done was, to consolidate the British Empire, and to see how best they could cement the ties which at present bound the Colonies to the mother country. He thought the present relations subsisting were satisfactory. There were points in which the administration of the Colonies might be improved, yet the feeling was not so strong as to warrant a change at all hazards. The strength of the ties which bound the Colonies to the mother country did not consist in their thickness, but in their number and elasticity. The proceedings closed with a vote of thanks to Mr. H. E. MONTGOMERIE, the reader, and to Mr. CATTANACH as the author of the paper. AN Ordinary General Meeting of the Institute was held on Monday evening, May 2, 1870, the Right Hon. Viscount BURY, M.P., President, in the Chair. Mr. J. BATE read the following Paper: ON THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL ROUTE TO PROBABLY no event of the present century is likely to exercise a greater influence upon the commerce of this country than the opening of the Suez Canal. Whether we regard the successful accomplishment of that great work from a political, social, or economical point of view, in each of these aspects it is pregnant with great and, we may-certainly as far as Egypt and the countries bordering upon it are concerned-predict, good results. In September last I was honoured with an invitation from His Highness the Khedive of Egypt to attend the opening of the Suez Canal on the 17th November following. Being a tolerably good voyager, and preferring the sea route, I secured my passage in the Peninsular & Oriental Company's steamer Nyanza, sailing on the 30th of October from Southampton, and carrying the Australian and Indian mails, of which there were 950 sacks. This route to Alexandria afforded an opportunity of seeing Gibraltar and Malta, and of passing near the scenes of several glorious events in the proud history of my native land. After starting from Southampton, I soon found that there were other guests of the Khedive on board-the Mayor of Manchester, the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, and other eminent manufacturers of that great city; together with several distinguished members of the press and literature of this country, whose presence the ruler of Egypt, no doubt, thought would be the means of spreading abroad the progress of civilisation and of enterprise in a land which had for so many centuries lain under the curse of desolation. After a most delightful passage of between twelve and thirteen days, we anchored in the harbour of Alexandria, which seemed alive with ships of all nations, dressed in their gayest colours, and thronged with crews and travellers from every clime. Soon after casting anchor, a barge carrying the Egyptian flag came alongside, and a Bey, who had been appointed to receive us, stepped on board, and acquainted the guests that he would accompany them ashore and direct them to their hotels, where we found that every arrangement had been made for our reception, and carriages provided for our recreation in visiting the neighbourhood, and seeing all that was of historical or modern interest. As Alexandria has been so much written and talked about by other travellers, I pass on to our ultimate rendezvous, viz. Port Said. We went there in the Fayoum, a fine paddlewheel steamer, purchased by our august entertainer from the Peninsular and Oriental Company, for the special use, it was said, of the ladies of the Harem. Upon nearing Port Said, we passed Damietta, one of the points at which the waters of the Nile find their way into the Mediterranean. The first object sighted off Port Said, which we reached on the 15th of November, is the lighthouse, lighted upon the occasion of this ceremony with the magnesium light, which was visible for twenty miles out at sea, affording a sure guide on the low shores and shallow waters of this coast. Upon approaching the harbour outside the breakwater on the left, we perceived the British fleet, under Admiral Milne, some ships of which had unfortunately got aground on a mud-bank which had been formed by the dredgings of the canal being shot on that side; and the crews were busily engaged in trying to get them off, in which they fortunately succeeded; each ship was in position, and gave the first royal salute, which greeted the Empress of the French and the Emperor of Austria, upon their arrival the following morning in their yachts. As soon as our pilot came on board, we passed up the channel of the harbour inside the breakwater, where the general depth of water was twenty-four feet, between a double line of ships of 100 sail, and from 100 to 3500 tons each. Every ship was dressed, from stem to stern, and from masthead to deck, with flags of all nations and of all colours and devices, with every now and then a man-of-war booming forth a thunder of welcome, either to ourselves or to some royal prince already arrived. Every ship had its assigned station, stern on to the shore, the greater number being on the town side; while the select few--those with the royal guests, and the Mahroussah, the magnificent yacht of the Khedive, with His Highness on board—were in position at the head of the fleet on the Syrian side. We were fortunate in having one of the posts of honour assigned to the Fayoum at the head of the fleet near the entrance to the canal, and the bow of our vessel was nearly vis-à-vis with that of the Khedive. Before proceeding further with the details of the fêtes which preceded and accompanied the ceremony, and inauguration of the blessing and opening of the port and canal, it may be as well that I should enter into a few details of the history of the ancient canals, and of the routes taken in the olden time between Egypt, Syria, and Arabia. The earliest-known origin of a canal is one constructed by Pharaoh Necho, in B.C. 600, part of which is still visible alongside the channel of the present canal between Suez and the Bitter Lakes. After Pharaoh this canal was neglected for twelve centuries, when it was restored by the Caliph Omar, A.D. 650. It was maintained for about a century, when it was destroyed by Caliph Abon Giafe. This canal was used as a fertilizer, and for the conveyance of produce, and was supplied with water from the branches of the Nile, as were also other canals. Napoleon Buonaparte, when in Egypt, turned his attention to the possibility of opening a communication between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, and ordered a survey and report to be made, which, though favourable to the undertaking, could not be carried out, owing to the expulsion of the French from Egypt, after the glorious Battle of the Nile and the victory of Sir Ralph Abercromby. The Mahmoudie Canal of Mehemet Ali was the last great canal-work attempted, the completion of which has tended greatly to develope the resources and to promote the prosperity of the country. When the enterprising and indefatigable M. de Lesseps had obtained a concession to the present company for making the canal in 1855, he, in conjunction with our countryman, Mr. (now Sir D.) Lange, made a strong effort to induce the capitalists and the mercantile classes of this country to take an interest in the undertaking, and to subscribe capital to carry on the work; but, encountering at the outset the unfavourable opinion of our great engineer Stephenson— who condemned the proposed canal as impracticable—as well as considerable opposition from the Government of Lord Palmerston, it was found, after much delay and loss of time, that it would be impossible to raise any portion of the capital required in this country. The company thereupon determined to endeavour to raise the capital of £8,000,000, required to complete the canal, in France; and it is possible that the revival of the First Napoleon's grand idea had some influence in inducing French capitalists to subscribe so readily the greater portion of that sum, thus enabling the company to go forward with their work. Active operations were commenced on the 25th of April, 1859, at Port Said (so named after the then Viceroy, Said Pasha). Under the able French engineers, Messrs. Borel and Lavelly, the works were carried rapidly forward, and the course of the canal is shown on the diagram. The spot selected on the Mediterranean side was found to offer a To greater depth of water closer inshore than any other in the neighbourhood; but the greatest difficulty which interposed was the obtaining of an adequate supply of fresh water. This could only be procured from the branches of the Nile, and for a considerable time 2000 dromedaries were employed upon this service alone. supply permanently this necessary and absolute want, a fresh-water canal was commenced, to bring the Nile waters to Ismailia, at which place powerful pumps were erected, for raising it to a conduit carried by the side of the canal, progressing, as the works proceeded, towards Port Said. The general character of the soil throughout was fine sand, mud, and clay, with rocky obstruction at Chalouf; the surface was for the most part level, or swampy, as in passing through part of the shallow lakes, Menzaleah and Ballah. The greatest difficulties experienced in excavating the trench of the canal were at El Guise, Serapeum, and Chalouf. At the former place, a high bank of sand interposed for a distance of five miles, and here the labour of 20,000 fellahs (or slaves) was employed in digging the trench. It was while this portion of the work was in progress that further opposition was made in England, in 1862, by interpellations in Parliament, and remonstrances were made by the Government to the Sultan, against the employment of slave (or forced) labour; it was subsequently shown that each of the workmen was paid in coin, and the Sheiks attested to the complete liberty of each of their followers, and of their good treatment and regular pay by the company. This was the last attempt at opposition made by the English authorities. The bank cut through at El Guise is forty-five feet above the surface of the water of the canal. Nothing, however, contributed more to the successful accomplishment of the work than the use of dredges, of which three kinds were employed. One of them was of the same construction as those which may be seen at work every day on the Thames, dredging into ballast-lighters alongside; the other two were constructed by the engineers for the service of special portions of the work. The top one is called a "shoot-dredger," and is twenty-three feet in length, and was used for dredging that greater portion of the maritime canal passing through the flat plain and shallow lakes. It was capable of excavating 4,000,000 cubic feet in a year, and the quantity excavated by these dredgers alone is estimated at 31,000,000 cubic yards. The lower dredger is called an "elevator," and was used in excavating those portions of the canal where the banks were high -as at El Guise, and between Lake Timsah and the Bitter Lakes. Its length was about 160 feet, and the quantity excavated by this VOL. II. F |