“Thence marched I into Egypt and Arabia,
And here, not far from Alexandria,
Whereat the Terrene and the Red Sea meet,
Being distant less than full a hundred leagues.
I meant to cut a channel to them both,
That men might quickly sail to India.”
For at that period travellers going to India in the famous sailing ships, called “East Indiamen,” were obliged to sail round the Cape of Good Hope and pass from the Southern to the Indian Ocean. The reader who wishes to understand the importance of the Suez Canal should look at the map of the Eastern Hemisphere, where he will have no difficulty in finding the position of the vast continent of Africa, which is washed on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the west by the Atlantic, on the south by the Southern Ocean, and on the east and north-east by the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. If he now traces the waterway round Africa, on coming to the head of the Red Sea he will find the only interruption of the oceanic continuity in the narrow neck of land called the Isthmus of Suez. But for this, ships might long ago have made complete circuits round this vast, and, even as yet, but partially explored continent. The circuit would, indeed, be a great one of some 15,000 miles; but the barrier that the Isthmus presented to inter-oceanic communication between the eastern and the western worlds was a piece of physical geography which has undoubtedly been a most important factor in determining the course of history. It has been said that had there existed at Suez a strait like that of Gibraltar or that of Messina, instead of a sandy isthmus, the achievements of Diaz, Vasco da Gama, and Columbus would have lost much of their significance; but the advantages to the world’s commerce would have been incalculable, and the progress of the race might have been more rapid.
The Emperor Napoleon I. had the idea of restoring the old canal; but it was only when steam navigation had taken its place on the seas that the scheme was looked upon as offering any chance of financial success. But General Chesney, who made some surveys for the French Government in 1830, had come to the conclusion that there was a considerable difference of level between the two seas—a difference, he calculated, of about 30 feet. The existence of such a state of things would, of course, have been very unfavourable for the undertaking; but the General’s supposition was soon proved to have been erroneous.
The suggestion of carrying out the project of constructing a ship canal through the Isthmus was seriously revived by Père Enfantin, the St. Simonian, in the year 1833. He then induced M. Ferdinand Lesseps, the French vice-consul, and Mehemet Ali, the Pasha of Egypt, to take some practical measures towards its accomplishment. Surveys were made, but owing to the breaking out of a plague, and to other causes, not much more was heard of the scheme till 1845. In 1846 La Société d’Etude du Canal de Suez was formed, and among those who turned their attention to the subject was Robert Stephenson. His report was wholly unfavourable to the enterprise. He recommended the construction of a railway through Egypt, and a line was accordingly made between Alexandria and Suez. But, notwithstanding the opinion of Mr. Stephenson, M. Lesseps persevered with wonderful energy, believing, on the report of other engineers, that the scheme could be successfully carried out. It is right, however, to state that Mr. Stephenson did not say it was impossible to complete the Suez Canal—he merely gave it as his opinion that the cost of making the canal, and keeping it in a proper state for navigation, would be so great that the scheme would not pay. However, in 1854, the Viceroy of Egypt signed the concession, and in 1860 the work was actually commenced, but not on a plan that was advocated by the English engineers of making the canal 25 feet above the sea level. There were also some political and financial difficulties to be overcome. The Suez Canal Company, it was said, had expended twelve millions of money in what was considered to be chiefly shifting sands.
