On its northern shore is the town of Ismaïlia, having about two thousand inhabitants, which has become a place of some importance. The railroad from Cairo is extended to it by a branch, the main line following the canal to Suez. It has a couple of hotels; and its principal square, on which the best one is situated, has the name of Place Champollion, showing that the French remember their learned men.
While the canal was in process of construction, Ismaïlia was the centre of operations. It was handsomely laid out, not unlike the city of Washington, which is one of the handsomest in the world; but, like the new places in our great West, it was built in a hurry, under the pressure of a drive of business, and the sanitary conditions were neglected. The important fresh-water canal, which is near the railroad all the way from the Nile, furnishes the only drinking-water of this town and of Suez; but the sewers of the new town had no other outlet.
Of course the town was soon invaded by fever, which caused it to be deserted; and it has never recovered its former prosperity, though not wholly for this reason, for the completion of the canal destroyed its business basis. Ismaïlia was the focal point of the great ceremonials at the opening of the canal. The Empress Eugénie of France, the Emperor Frederick of Germany, then crown-prince, and other noted persons, were present; and the celebration is said to have cost the Khedive twenty million dollars.
The town has improved somewhat of late; the viceroy's château, which had become much dilapidated, has been restored, and portions of the desert, irrigated from the canal, have been transformed into fine gardens. Though the climate is agreeable and the air dry, it is not likely to become a pleasure resort. A couple of small steamers run from this port to Port Said, while the railroad connects it with Suez.
The steamer remained a couple of hours at the station, as did the Ophir; and the commander obtained permission for the ladies to pay her a visit. She is a magnificent specimen of naval architecture. Her saloon, staterooms, drawing-room on the upper deck, were magnificent apartments, most luxuriously furnished. Her appointments for second-class passengers were extensive and very comfortable, far better than on many Atlantic steamers.
The ubiquitous donkey, and especially the donkey-boy, were here; and the "Big Four," with the exception of Louis Belgrave, who attended Miss Blanche on the visit to the Ophir, accompanied by Don, went on a frolic to the town. They made a great noise and waked up the place, but they committed no excesses. When they returned to the ship, they found Louis and Miss Blanche showing the captain and the surgeon of the big steamer over the Guardian-Mother. The beautiful young lady had evidently fascinated them, and they had been extremely polite to the party, perhaps on her account. They appeared to be interested in the steam-yacht, and expressed their belief that nothing more comfortable and elegant floated.
The steamers got under way again, and proceeded through one of the two channels through the blue lake. The ladies waved their handkerchiefs to the officers and passengers of the Ophir; and their greetings were heartily reciprocated, for the American party had plainly made an impression upon the English people, partly perhaps by the style in which they travelled, but probably more by the beauty of the ladies, with Miss Blanche as princess, and the others were under forty and still good-looking. The lake is only five miles long, and the steamers soon passed into the cut at the south of it.
"Along this region many ruins have been found, some of them of Persian structures," said the commander after the ship had left the lake. "Pharaoh-Necho, 600 b.c., built a canal from Suez to Lake Timsah, with gates, which Herodotus describes, and informs us that the vessels of the period went through it in four days."
"I wish you would tell us something about Herodotus, Captain, for his name has been frequently mentioned in Egypt," said Mrs. Woolridge.
"And about Diodorus and Strabo, also mentioned in the lectures," added the magnate. "I have forgotten all that I ever knew about these gentlemen."