Footnotes:
[1] For more detailed account of the difficulties and of the preliminary work, the reader is referred to the pamphlets of Capt. Methven, Pen. and Oriental Steamship Company; of J. N. Strouse, U. S. N.; Mr. H. Mitchell, Coast Survey; Blackwood, Dec., 1869, and other periodicals.
[2] The reader is referred to the reports of the French engineers; to the pamphlet of J. N. Nourse, U. S. N.; Blackwood, Dec., 1869; London Times, and other periodicals.
[3] See Delta Report of Generals Humphreys and Abbot.
[4] 17,738 miles during S. W. monsoon. For a part of this table I am indebted to Com. B. F. Sands, U. S. N.
[5] Present average of the tonnage of ships of the commercial marine is 380 to 400 tons. The calculation supposes a commercial year of 300 days, and that the same number of ships arrive daily.
[6] The Egyptian correspondent of the Boston Advertiser, March 15, 1870, observes: “The channel at Lake Timseh has not much more than 19 feet of water, as on the day of opening. We met two steamers on their way to Bombay, an English vessel going for cotton, and the French steamer Asie. This was evidently all the business of the day, and from the report of the company, it is a fair average of the amount of work done. The company say they register one thousand five hundred tons a day.”
The following statement exhibits more fully the tonnage and toll-receipts of the Suez Canal:
| In December, 1869 | 9 | steamers and sailing ships | 40,000 | francs |
| In January, 1870 | 16 | “ “ | 170,000 | “ |
| In February, 1870 | 28 | “ “ | 269,000 | “ |
| In March, 1870 | 52 | “ “ | 450,000 | “ |
[7] The Caledonia Canal is 25 miles long, and 122 feet wide at water surface. Dimensions of locks, 178½ by 39 feet. Lockage, 95 feet.