g between huge piers thrown out from both coasts,
and of a bridge, for which he prepared five different plans. He again
brought forward his scheme for a tunnel, in a modified form, in 1867,
and exhibited his plans in the Universal Exhibition of that year. About
the same time an English engineer, William Lowe, of Wrexham, was also
working at the idea of a tunnel. Geological investigation convinced him
that between Fanhole, a point half a mile west of the South Foreland
light, and Sangatte on the French coast, 4 m. W. of Calais, the Dover
grey chalk was continuous from side to side, and he considered that this
stratum, owing to its comparative freedom from water and the general
absence of cracks and fissures, offered exceptional advantages for a
tunnel. He and Thome de Gamond joined forces, and their plans were
adopted by an international committee whose object was to popularize the
idea of a tunnel both in England and France. Its engineers on the
English side were Lowe, Sir James Brunlees and Sir John Hawkshaw, the
last of whom in 1866 had made trial borings at St Margaret's and near
Sangatte; and on the French side Thome de Gamond, Paulin Talabot and
Michael Chevalier. In 1868 they reported that there was a reasonable
prospect of completing the tunnel in ten or twelve years at a cost not
exceeding ten millions sterling. They admitted, however, that there was
some risk of an influx of the sea, but pointed out that this risk could
be determined by driving preliminary driftways, as suggested by Lowe,
and for this purpose asked for financial aid from the imperial treasury.
A commission of inquiry then appointed by the French ministry of public
works reported favourably on the plans, though it declined to, recommend
a grant of money; but the further progress of the scheme was interrupted
by the outbreak of the Franco-German war.

The tunnel was by no means the only plan in evidence at this period for
securing continuous railway communication between England and France. An
iron tube, resting on the bottom of the sea, had been proposed by
Tessier de Mottray in 1803, and had again been considered by Thome de
Gamond in 1833; but after 1850 projects of this kind might almost be
counted by the dozen. Some of the structures were to be of iron, others
of concrete or masonry, and some were to be floated a moderate distance
below the surface. One of the most carefully worked out plans was that
of J. F. Bateman and J. Revy, who proposed