canal
from the Nile. Till then all fresh water had been brought in tanks
from Cairo. Next, a town--called Port Said, after the khedive who had
first favored the plan of the canal--was built on the Mediterranean.
The canal was to run a straight southerly course to Suez. At Ismailia,
the new city, it would connect with the railroad to Cairo; between
Port Said and Ismailia it would pass through two swampy lakes.

In seven years Port Said became a town of ten thousand inhabitants.
The total length of the canal is about ninety miles, but more than
half of it passes through the lakes, which had to be dredged. The
width of the canal is a little over one hundred yards, its depth
twenty-six feet. About sixty millions of dollars were expended on
its construction and the preliminary works that it entailed,--these
last all tending to the benefit and prosperity of Egypt.

The grand opening took place Nov. 16, 1869. The sultan was not
present; he had been persuaded out of his fancy to see the sight,
and the khedive was left in peace as master of ceremonies. The
Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria was there in his yacht, and the
Empress Eugenie, the "bright particular star" of the occasion, was
on board the French war-steamer "L'Aigle." As "L'Aigle" steamed
slowly into the crowded port, all the bands played,--

"Partant pour la Syrie,
Le brave et jeune Dunois,"

the air of which had been composed by Queen Hortense, the mother
of the emperor, so that it was dignified during his reign into
a national air.

That afternoon there was a religious ceremony, which all the crowned
heads and other great personages were expected to attend. Two of
the sovereigns or heirs-apparent present were Roman Catholics,
one was a Protestant, and one a Mohammedan. The Crescent and the
Cross for the first time overshadowed worshippers joining in one
common prayer. The empress appeared, leaning on the arm of the
Emperor of Austria. She wore a short pale gray silk, with deep
white Brussels lace arranged in _paniers_ and flounces. Her hat and
veil were black, and round her throat was a black velvet ribbon.
The Mohammedan pontiff who officiated on the occasion was understood
to be a man of extraordinary sanctity, brought from a great distance
to lend solemnity to the occasion. He was followed by the chaplain of
the empress, a stout, handsome Hungarian prelate named M. Bauer.[1]

[Footnote 1: Blackwood's Magazine.]

Even up to the morning of November