A part of the desert is below the level of the Mediterranean, and some of the scientific men and others interested in the development of Algeria, have proposed to dig a canal from the sea, and allow this empty space to be filled. They would thus create an inland lake on which steamers could run, and which could furnish a vast supply of water to groves of palm trees along its shores. But the enterprise is not likely to be undertaken, for a variety of reasons.
In the first place, the cost would be something enormous, and quite out of proportion to the result proposed. The cutting or canal would be more than a hundred miles long, and for quite a distance, forty or fifty feet deep.
The distance which could be flooded is variously estimated from twenty to forty thousand square miles. Of course the land covered by the water would be of no use, and it includes many prosperous oases of date palms, which would have far more water than they need in order to bear fruits. To start with, there would thus be a heavy loss.
The effect upon the climate of Europe of the proposed inland sea has been much discussed. The whole of France owes its warm, genial climate to the hot winds which blow from Africa across the Mediterranean, and do not lose their soothing temperature till they reach the North Sea and the Baltic. Africa thus becomes a vast furnace to supply Europe with hot air. It is feared by many of the scientific men who have studied the matter, that the inland sea would partially or completely change the climate. The winds would absorb the moisture, and thus form vast rain clouds; instead of conveying warmth and dry air to southern Europe, they would be cool and laden with rain. The grapes would decay upon the vines without ripening; sunny France would be no longer so, and Paris would become as cold as Berlin, and as dreary as London. Doubtless this is an overstatement of the case, but the risk that any of these events might happen outweighs the probable good which the inland sea might accomplish.
THE SUEZ CANAL.
Not altogether distinct from mining matters, as it certainly required a vast deal of excavating, is the Suez Canal—a French enterprise of the greatest magnitude. The plan for making a canal between the Mediterranean and Red seas is very old, and has received a great deal of attention from ancient times to the present. One important difference between the canal of to-day and those of the olden time is in its direct course from sea to sea, which makes it altogether a salt-water canal. The old plans were in favor of tapping the Nile and connecting the river with the Red Sea, so that a portion of the route would be a fresh-water one. The size of modern ships rendered it necessary to abandon the Nile scheme altogether, as the shallowness of the river would not permit the passage of the ordinary sea-going vessel, even if we leave unconsidered those vast specimens of the naval architect’s skill which are the pride and boast of all maritime nations.
According to Herodotus and other writers, “the first to attempt the construction of the canal to the Red Sea,” was Pharaoh Necho II, one of the Egyptian kings, who reigned about six hundred and ten years before Christ. His canal left the Nile at Bubastis, near Zagazig, and followed along a valley leading toward the Red Sea, which then extended much farther inland than it does at present. Pliny estimates the length of this canal at sixty-two Roman miles, or fifty-seven English ones, and modern measurements show that these figures were very nearly correct. Herodotus estimates the distance from the Red Sea to the mouth of the Nile at one hundred and fourteen miles, and he says that 120,000 men perished while cutting it. This is probably an exaggeration or a slip of the pen, as he doubtless meant to say that that number of men was engaged in the work.
The canal was not finished during the reign of Necho II. The work was continued by his successors, and finally completed, but it was neglected, and the drifting sands soon filled the canal and made it useless. It remained so for centuries, though several attempts were made to clear it out. It is said to have been re-opened about the year 1000 of our era, by one of the Arab sultans, but it was again neglected, with the same result as before.
PLAN OF NAPOLEON FOR DIGGING A CANAL.
In modern times, the first to take up the subject and give it careful attention, was the emperor Napoleon, at the time of his conquest of Egypt in 1798. He personally examined the traces of the canal made by Necho and his successors, and ordered one of his engineers to make a careful survey of the route, to ascertain what difference there might be between the levels of the two seas.