There are other branches of revenue that will acquire great importance hereafter; among others, the fishing in the Canal, the produce of the works to be established at the fall of each barrage lock, and the sale of Arab horses.
The current established by the action of the two barrage locks, will draw into the Canal a multitude of fish, both from the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
The falls of the fresh water Canal will be made available to the agricultural operations of the country, such as grinding corn, husking of cotton, peeling of flax, laying of thread, &c.
The situation of the Isthmus of Suez, upon the confines of Arabia and Syria, which supply the best breeds of horses, and whither Europe has always had to repair to regenerate the equine species, will become a locality, than which none can be more favourable for the formation and maintenance at a trifling expense, of an establishment for breeding and rearing horses. The valley Wady Tomilat will again become what it was in the times of Scripture, the land of Goshen, which name signifies in Hebrew and Arabic Pastures; the land that Joseph prevailed upon Pharaoh to grant to the Israelites, because it was the most fertile country in Egypt.
We are so convinced that the preceding estimates of revenue will be rapidly exceeded, that we propose to the Company to have a clause inserted in the Statutes by which the tariffs shall be lowered as soon as the dividends shall exceed twenty per cent., in order to make the community of the world participators in the advantages of this grand and useful undertaking.
With this last observation we will terminate our labours, which are only, as their title indicates, a preparatory work, intended to fix public opinion upon the merits of the undertaking, and to lead discussion on to a limited and well defined ground.
These labours will be followed by a regular scheme, wherein all the details of execution will be developed, and wherein the most recent statistical documents, drawn from official sources, will furnish the basis of all the calculations of revenue.
We have confined ourselves in this preliminary exposition to the establishment of the approximate maximum presumed expenditure, and we have sought to guard against any exaggeration in estimating the revenue. All our calculations are based upon documents, which any one may verify and appreciate at their worth.
We entertain the hope, that the undertaking will be favourably received, for there will be profit and honour for those who take the first part in it; and it will not only offer incontestable advantages, but it will be moreover the grandest work of progress and of civilization that the nineteenth century will have produced.
Cairo, 20th March, 1855.