"I cannot tell you just how far it is at this moment, for my charts are in my cabin," replied Captain Ringgold. "We are not so near it as we shall be later; but you will all see it after we get into the Red Sea. We will defer the subject till that time; and I should not have mentioned it if the south-east wind had not suggested it."
"I got a glance at an enormously big steamer ahead of us just as we were leaving the promenade," added Mr. Woolridge. "She looked as large as Noah's Ark, and appeared as though she was sailing over the land."
"Perhaps she was quite as large; for the pilot tells me that the Ophir is just ahead of us," added the commander.
"What is the Ophir?" asked Mrs. Belgrave.
"She is the largest of the Orient Line of steamers, and one of the finest ships in the world. I remember that in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible it says that the ark was larger than any British man-of-war; and probably the statement is still correct, though by a narrower margin than when the learned editor completed his work. The Empress of India and two other barbette ships of her class in the English navy have a displacement of 14,150 tons, and the last built Cunarder, the Lucania, exceeds 13,000 tons. The ark was 525 feet long, reducing her 300 cubits to our measure, which is about the length of the Ophir."
"I should like to go on board of one of those great British steamers that sail to the other side of the earth," said Mrs. Belgrave.
"Possibly we may have an opportunity to do so at Ismaïlia or Suez. I will ascertain when we arrive at these places," the captain replied to the lady; whose simple requests and hints were law to the gallant commander, who was a bachelor in the best possible preservation.
The company returned to the promenade without any unnecessary delay; for all of them were interested in the canal itself, and in the sights to be seen on its shores. The great steamer ahead of the Guardian-Mother was much nearer than when the party went below, and it soon appeared that she had "taken the ground." But it proved to be only a temporary hitch, for she went ahead again before the American craft reached her.
"They are at work all the time on the canal to prevent these accidents, and several changes have already been made in the original plan of the canal," said the commander. "Monsieur Lesseps, who projected this wonderful enterprise, and whose energy and perseverance carried it through to its completion, made a voyage through the canal in the Austral, one of the largest of the Orient Line, though not so large as the one ahead of us, for the purpose of observing any defects. The result has been that several improvements have been adopted which it is expected will remove all the difficulties."
"Is Monsieur Lesseps still living, Captain?" inquired Captain Scott.