Asiatic Breezes; Or, Students on The Wing

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER XXII

  THE CANAL AND ITS SUGGESTIONS

  The tourists had been up long enough to be in excellent condition forbreakfast; and the Asiatic breezes from the south-east were cool andrefreshing, for they came from the mountains of the peninsula of Sinai,where Moses had received the law from Heaven. There was somethinginspiring in this thought to the minds of the more religious members ofthe party when the commander announced the proximity of the sacredmountain after he had asked the blessing.

  "How far is Mount Sinai from where we are now?" asked Mrs. Woolridge.

  "I cannot tell you just how far it is at this moment, for my charts arein my cabin," replied Captain Ringgold. "We are not so near it as weshall 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 havementioned 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 wereleaving the promenade," added Mr. Woolridge. "She looked as large asNoah'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 Ophiris 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 thefinest ships in the world. I remember that in Smith's Dictionary of theBible it says that the ark was larger than any British man-of-war; andprobably the statement is still correct, though by a narrower marginthan when the learned editor completed his work. The Empress of Indiaand two other barbette ships of her class in the English navy have adisplacement of 14,150 tons, and the last built Cunarder, the Lucania,exceeds 13,000 tons. The ark was 525 feet long, reducing her 300 cubitsto our measure, which is about the length of the Ophir."

  "I should like to go on board of one of those great British steamersthat sail to the other side of the earth," said Mrs. Belgrave.

  "Possibly we may have an opportunity to do so at Ismailia or Suez. Iwill ascertain when we arrive at these places," the captain replied tothe lady; whose simple requests and hints were law to the gallantcommander, who was a bachelor in the best possible preservation.

  The company returned to the promenade without any unnecessary delay; forall of them were interested in the canal itself, and in the sights to beseen on its shores. The great steamer ahead of the Guardian-Mother wasmuch nearer than when the party went below, and it soon appeared thatshe 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 thecanal," said the commander. "Monsieur Lesseps, who projected thiswonderful enterprise, and whose energy and perseverance carried itthrough to its completion, made a voyage through the canal in theAustral, one of the largest of the Orient Line, though not so large asthe one ahead of us, for the purpose of observing any defects. Theresult has been that several improvements have been adopted which it isexpected will remove all the difficulties."

  "Is Monsieur Lesseps still living, Captain?" inquired Captain Scott.

  "He is at the age of eighty-seven this year. His success with the SuezCanal led him to undertake the construction of the Panama Canal. Thecompany was formed with the prestige of the great engineer's success onthis isthmus, and the shares were readily sold. The work was begun; butit was a more difficult undertaking than Suez, and the company suspendedpayment four years ago. Speculators and 'boodlers' had 'monkeyed' withthe finances, and the vast scheme is a failure. Whether it will ever beaccomplished remains a question for the future."

  "The poor old man and his son were dragged into the mire, and were evencommitted to prison, though they were soon released," added Mr.Woolridge. "I think he was a great man, and I was exceedingly sorry forhis misfortunes."

  "He will never receive the honor he deserves on our side of theAtlantic, I fear," added Captain Ringgold. "After rich and powerfulpotentates had rejected the scheme, Lesseps still cherished it. Oversixty years ago, when he was an employe in the office of the Frenchconsul at Tunis, he was sent to Alexandria on business. Here he wassubjected to a residence of some time in quarantine. He was suppliedwith books by the French consul there, and among them was Lapere'sMemoire. The author was Napoleon's engineer, whose report that the levelof the two seas was not uniform, had set aside the schemes to connectthem by a canal. Lesseps considered his views, and some years after madethe acquaintance of Lieutenant Waghorn, favorably known in connectionwith the Overland Route to India by the way of Egypt. The route bydescending the Euphrates River to the head of the Persian Gulf was alsoconsidered. It appears, therefore, that Lesseps was cogitating his greatenterprise for nearly forty years before the work was completed."

  "I cannot see the immense importance of this canal as you gentlemenrepresent it; but I suppose it is because I am a woman," said Mrs.Belgrave.

  "It is of the greatest importance to England," replied Mr. Woolridge."Over twenty-five hundred British vessels went through the canal in1888; for England has a vast empire in Asia, to say nothing of Australiaand other colonies in the East. Of other nations of Europe, France senttwo hundred and seventy-two ships through the canal, Holland one hundredand twenty-four, Germany one hundred and twenty-two, and others lessthan a hundred each."

  "But how many American vessels went through?" asked Captain Scott.

  "None were mentioned in the report I saw; and the number must have beenvery few. The canal is of vastly less importance to the United Statesthan to England, France, Holland, and Spain, all of which have coloniesin the East. Since the war, our maritime commerce has been immenselyreduced, though our ships still make voyages to India, China, andvarious ports of the East. Then the distance saved to our vessels wouldbe much less. Roughly estimated,--in fact, guessed at,--I should saythat the distance from New York to Ceylon, near the southern cape ofIndia, is four-fifths of that around Cape Good Hope. The heavy dues forpassing through the canal are an item, and it would not pay to save twothousand five hundred miles out of twelve thousand five hundred."

  "But the saving from London to Bombay is forty-four per cent," added Mr.Woolridge. "From Marseilles to the same port it is nearly sixty percent. The United States 'is not in it'"--

  "_Are_ not in it, papa," interposed Miss Blanche with a silvery laugh.

  "No, my dear; _is_ not in it," returned the magnate, with a lovingsmile. "I know the government is said to have ruled for the plural, butI don't accept the ruling. Why, what does _E pluribus Unum_ mean if notthe singular number? For what did we fight the War of the Rebellion ifnot to prove that the United States _is_ one government, and _are_ notforty-four of them at the present moment."

  "But the grammar, papa?" asked Blanche.

  "The grammar is all right, my child. What are the news, Blanche? Thecompany is or are, just as you pay your money and take your choice,"said the father, chucking the fair maiden under the chin.

  "Our friend is quite right, and, so far as the canal is concerned, theUnited States _is_ not in it," added the commander, laughing at the turnthe conference had taken.

  "How far have we gone so far, Captain?" asked Miss Blanche.

  "Ten o'clock," he replied, consulting his watch. "We have been moving atthis snail's pace for five hours, and made twenty-five miles, or fortykilometres. In five more we shall come to El Kantara, where the caravanroute from Egypt into Asia crosses the canal."

  "Do the camels have to swim across the canal?" asked Mrs. Blossom.

  "They do not; but it cost the canal company some money to save them thetrouble of doing so," replied the captain. "El Kantara means 'thebridge;' and there used to be one across the outlet of a lake there. Thebridge was removed by the company, and a ferry substituted for it."

  "I suppose all vessels have to go through the canal in the daytime,"said Mrs. Woolridge.

  "Not at all; the system of signals
is arranged for day or night. Vesselswith an electric search-light or projector which will show up an objectthree-quarters of a mile ahead are allowed to navigate the canal atnight. We could do so if so disposed; but we wish to see the country.The channel is lighted at night by illuminated buoys."

  "What sort of boys?" inquired Mrs. Blossom, who was struggling to growwise, and had a long distance to travel in that direction.

  "Iron ones," answered the captain.

  "Iron boys!" exclaimed the good lady. "How could they point out the waythrough the canal?"

  "They swim in the water, and the pilots understand the language theyspeak," said the commander gravely.

  "Iron boys that swim and speak!" ejaculated the excellent lady. "I thinkyou must be fooling with us, Captain Ringgold."

  "You have put your foot in it again!" exclaimed Mrs. Belgrave in awhisper. "Don't say another word!"

  "A buoy is a floating body in the shape of two inverted cones united attheir bases, made of copper or plate iron. They are used all over theworld to mark the bounds of channels, sometimes with fog-bells on them,rung by the action of the waves," continued the commander. "They aremoored to the bottom here as elsewhere, and have a gas-light burning onthem all the time."

  "A gas-light!" exclaimed Mrs. Woolridge; "where is the gas-house?"

  "There are several of them on the canal, and not one for each buoy,which is filled with gas, and contains a supply that will last for sixweeks. Some folks who never went to sea suppose a lighthouse is to givelight on the water, when they are only to mark certain localities, andto give ranges to navigators. These buoys are for the same purpose, andnot to light up the canal. But here is El Kantara."

  "I think you said this place was on the road to Syria," said themagnate. "People who go to the Holy Land from Egypt, and most of them dogo that way, take a steamer from Alexandria to Joppa, or Jaffa as it isnow generally called, and do not go by camel-back over this road."

  "They do not; but they may go over it at some time in the near future,"added Professor Giroud. "The Egypto-Syrian Railroad has been projected,and it is to pass over this route."

  The travellers found quite a village at El Kantara, with a hotel, andother places for the refreshment of travellers. Passengers from thesteamers seldom land here. The ship proceeded on her way, and the partycaught a glimpse at a boat-load of camels crossing the canal. From thisplace to Fort Said the course had been perfectly straight through LakeMenzaleh, which ends here.

  "If you will look to the left," said the commander after a time, "youwill see a considerable body of water. That is the upper part of LakeBalah, through which the canal passes. About a mile and a half distantis a lot of sandstone rocks like that of the Memnon statues. They appearto belong to an altar, and the inscription informs the visitor who canread it that they were parts of a temple erected by Seti I. in honor ofhis father, Ramses I., and completed by Ramses II., his son. There mayhave been a city here, but there are no signs of it now."

  The steamer passed through the Balah Lakes; for there are several ofthem, containing some islands. The canal is protected by high banks ofyellow sand, and beyond is the desert, with hills in the distance.Coming out of the lakes, the canal passed through a deep cutting, whichwas the worst place encountered in doing the work. It is the highestground on the isthmus, averaging fifty-two feet above the sea; and aridge of this territory is from seventy to one hundred feet high,through which the digging had to be carried. There are some curves here,the canal is the narrowest in all its course, and vessels morefrequently get aground here than in any other portion. The road to Syriapassed over this elevation, which is called "the causeway" in Arabic.

  The Ophir went through without sticking in the sand, and theGuardian-Mother was likely to do as well. A solitary mosque and a chaletof the Khedive were passed, and the ship was approaching Lake Timsahwhen the gong sounded for lunch, and the air of the desert had given thetourists an appetite which caused them to evacuate the promenade withhasty steps.