Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

242 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. person of modern times to give attention to the question of making a waterway through the isthmus. Napoleon ad- Napoleon’s vocated the construction of Scheme. & canal wide enough to admit the passage of ocean-going vessels. In 1798 he commissioned an engineer, M. Lepere, to examine and report to him on the practi- cability of the idea. This engineer virtually FERDINAND, COMTE DE LESSEPS. - (Rischgitz Collection.) put an end to the project for the time being by declaring that the surface of the Red Sea was nearly thirty feet higher than that of the Mediterranean. As trade between Europe and India in- creased, the isthmus proved such an obstacle to- rapid communication with the Far East that the British Government approved a scheme for an “ overland route.” This con- sisted of landing passengers Alexandria, transporting them Suez, and there re-embarking The Overland Route. and mails at by train to them for India. At best, however, it was but a makeshift. It simply shortened the jour- ney for Indo-European travellers and acceler- ated the mails—that was all. A road to India across the isthmus, to be of the greatest service M. Ferdi- nand de Lesseps. not be easily to shipping in general, and to Great Britain in particular, must be such as would, not necessitate the disembarking and re-embarking of passengers and mails, and would permit merchandise also to be carried without the trouble and expense of transhipment. A mari- time canal, wide and deep enough for ocean- going vessels, was the only plan which, would meet all the necessities of the case. Was a maritime canal practicable ? and would such a canal, if constructed, be financially profit- able ? These were the ques- tions which M. Ferdinand de Lesseps debated with himself and with the world many years. An absolute affirmative could obtained by the great engineer ; he had to win it patiently, by persuasion from his friends, by the logic of facts from, his foes. Two points of great importance were quickly decided by M. de Lesseps : first, that it was undesirable to follow up Napoleon s idea of restoring the disused canal ; second, that the shortest and most direct practicable line must be drawn between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. The route being chosen, questions of considerable interest and no little difficulty confronted him. Was the sea-level about the same at both the two extremities of the proposed Canal ? or Was there, as had generally been supposed, a difference of level so great that the Canal would be literally flooded as soon as it was opened ? Would the process of “ silting up ” choke the Canal ? Was it possible to construct a port and keep the entrance clear on the Mediterranean side of the Canal ? When these questions were disposed of, there were others ready to present themselves ; but those mentioned were the most difficult, except, perhaps, that of finding the tens of thousands of labourers which the work would require, and of feeding them in such a “ desert place ” when they should be found. For the solving of some of these problems,