When the canal was first designed, in 1856, it was supposed that two vessels, being towed, could easily pass where the bottom width was 144 feet, or double the normal width adopted. At the present day, however, when vessels of nearly 200 feet in width propel themselves through the canal, a bottom width of 230 feet has been proposed for the 81 miles from Port Said to the southern end of the Bitter Lakes, where the tidal currents do not exceed one knot an hour, and 262 feet for the rest of the distance to Suez, where the currents often exceed two knots, in order that the vessels may pass each other freely. The cost of this widening was estimated at 8,240,000l., supposing the depth of the canal remained as at present, 26¼ feet below low-water of ordinary spring tides, but it would be increased by 975,200l. if the depth was augmented to 29½ feet, unless the proposed width could be reduced to 18 feet.
The construction of a second canal, within the limits of the company’s lands, having, like the existing canal, a bottom width of 72 feet, widened out to 131 feet through the small Bitter Lakes, was estimated at from 8,200,000l. to 8,920,000l., with an additional cost of 698,800l. if made 29½ feet deep.
The third plan took into consideration the different velocities of the tidal currents north and south of the Bitter Lakes. Assuming that the greater velocity might lead to collisions between vessels passing on a single enlarged canal, it would be advisable to restrict the enlargement to the northern portion, and to form a second canal between the Bitter Lakes and Suez. For reasons which are fully set forth in their Report, the Commission decided in favour of the enlargement of the existing canal. The estimated cost of the works, which are now in progress, is rather over 8,000,000l.
It has been suggested, with some show of reason, that it would be to the advantage of the commerce of the world that the maritime Powers should make arrangements to acquire the Suez Canal, and throw it open, free of any charge or impost whatsoever, to the navigation of all nations, in the same way that the Scheldt and the Sound have been. The canal has hitherto been employed almost entirely for the transport of passengers, mails, and such traffic as will bear a high rate of freight, the charge of 7s. to 10s. per ton being prohibitory in respect to much of the commerce that passes from the East to the West. The proposal is one that is entitled to every consideration. There is, however, a high probability, amounting almost to a certainty, that the proprietors would demand a very large sum in excess of their original expenditure. The canal has cost from first to last, including financing, some 20,000,000l. At their recent prices, the canal shares may be considered as worth about four times that amount. If the property were to be purchased on such a basis, it would require an expenditure of at least 80,000,000l., which sum, although by no means impossible, is yet little likely to be realised for such a purpose. If the canal had been taken over in 1880 it could have been purchased for one-half the sum that would now be required to buy it.[162]
At the same time that the Suez canal route was being advocated with all his wonted energy and enthusiasm by M. de Lesseps, other two routes to India were being seriously discussed. As one at least of these is still on the carpet we may fitly say something of it here.
Up to the sixteenth century the best known and the most frequented route to India was that by the valleys of the Euphrates and the Tigris. These two great rivers of Mesopotamia are among the most celebrated in the world’s history. The Euphrates has its source in the northern highlands of Armenia; the Tigris in the southern slopes of the same mountainous region, being fed by many rivers that traverse the boundary line between Persia and Turkey. Almost at the dawn of recorded history, we find that the Assyrians and the Babylonians connected these two rivers by a series of canals. Two of these, constructed parallel to the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, were large enough to be navigated, but the system was constructed mainly with a view to irrigating the surrounding plains, which, for nearly six months, were liable to be burnt up by the scorching sun. As the Arabs and Turcomans gained greater ascendancy in this region, the arts of husbandry were less practised, and the canals and water-courses were allowed to fall into desuetude and decay. Their embankments still, however, remain to attest the remarkable skill, labour, and industry with which, at this early date, the fertility of the soil was stimulated and increased, until the extraordinary productiveness of Assyria and Babylonia became a favourite theme of Herodotus and other historians.
Through this region, until the trade of the East was drawn into the newer channel viâ the Cape of Good Hope, European merchants sought an outlet for their trade with the East. Bagdad and Bussora were then great entrepôts of commerce. Mosul and Aleppo were the ancient counterparts of Suez and Port Said. The route was, however, never a safe or a satisfactory one. The Syrian desert, close at hand, claimed many victims. The wild Arab tribes committed depredations on travellers. The “unspeakable” Turk was exacting and intolerant. The journey to India and back lasted for a lengthened period—often two or three years—where it now scarcely extends over so many months. But in spite of all this, the indomitable spirit and energy of the English race led it to establish a secure footing on such ungenial soil, and amid such inhospitable surroundings. An English factory long flourished at Aleppo. A fleet of boats was, in the reign of Elizabeth, maintained on the Euphrates for the use of British traders. When the Levant Company was founded in 1582, it was deemed a veritable Eldorado to have the exclusive privilege of trading with this part of the globe. All this has long ceased to be, but the proposal to have the Euphrates and the Tigris utilised as a trade route to India has been again and again revived. In 1834, the British Government determined to fit out an expedition to test the capabilities of the Euphrates for steam navigation. The expedition was placed under the charge of Colonel Chesney, upon whose recommendation it was adopted by Parliament. It was found that the Euphrates was in some places a broad and deep stream, and in others navigation was impeded by shallows, sandbanks, rapids, and stone dams of large size, built for irrigation purposes. One of the two vessels fitted out for the use of the expedition foundered in a storm, and many lives were lost. The Government, deeming the result unsatisfactory, declined to take any further part in exploring the Euphrates. In 1840, however, the East India Company commissioned Lieutenant Campbell to attempt the ascent of the river. This expedition sailed up the Tigris to within a few miles of Mosul. They found a canal uniting the Euphrates and Tigris near Bagdad, which, however, has long been closed. They also navigated the great canal which is said to have been constructed by the Emperor Valerian during his captivity, nearly as far as Shushtir, and several rivers in Persia. One of the vessels employed on this expedition was for many years afterwards accustomed to make occasional voyages between Bagdad and Bussora, mainly in order that our privilege to navigate the river should be maintained, and our influence in Western Asia preserved.
The proposal put forward by the promoters of the Euphrates Valley route in 1856, was to navigate the rivers Euphrates and Tigris from about the latitude of Aleppo to the sea, to construct a harbour at Suedia, and a railway thence to Kalah Jaber. From this point it was proposed that steamers should convey mails, passengers, and merchandise to Bussora, whence sea-going vessels should run to India.[163] The route to India would thus be reduced to 4715 miles, and the time necessary for the journey to less than sixteen days, giving a saving of thirteen days out and nine days home upon the Suez voyage.
The cost involved in this undertaking, not to speak of its mechanical and physical difficulties, led to its abandonment, although it is by no means certain that the engineering problems to be dealt with are more considerable than those which have had to be solved at Panama. One serious difficulty, which has been deemed all but insuperable, is the fact that the waters of the Jordan are just sufficient to balance the evaporation from the surface of the Dead Sea, so that if that sea were increased to five or six times its superficial area, as proposed, it would require a much larger volume of water than the Jordan can furnish to meet the deficiency. The project also labours under the defects of climate, a thin population, and an absence of food and water supplies.
In the last century the Marquis of Wellesley endeavoured to utilise the Euphrates Valley route; and the House of Commons has been asked to grant sums of money for various purposes in connection with it at different times. In 1871 the House of Commons ordered an official inquiry, with a view to place upon record all the useful information available, including the evidence of Colonel Chesney and others, as to this route.