re we
read the names "Lake Timsah," "The Bitter Lakes" and others. They
were found to be thickly incrusted with salt on the bottom and
sides, indicating that at one time they had been filled with
sea-water; it is indeed must probable that the whole isthmus was at
a very remote period entirely submerged. In the construction of the
canal these depressions were made to play a very important part. The
line of the canal was carried directly through them; the shallower
were brought to a sufficient depth by dredging; the deeper were
simply filled with water and required nothing more for safe
navigation than an indication of the channel by buoys. Thus, in the
whole length of the canal, reckoned at 88 geographical miles, there
are 66 miles of actual digging; 14 miles of dredging through the
lakes; and 8 miles, where neither digging nor dredging was required.

Water began to flow from the Mediterranean into the canal in
February, 1869, and from the Red Sea in July of the same year; and
by October, the lakes, and the canal in its whole length, were
filled with water navigable by vessels of the highest class. The
water-way thus obtained has a width at the surface varying from 197
feet at deep cuttings, to 225 feet at lower ground. The sides slope
to a width at the bottom of 72 feet, and an average depth of 26 feet
is secured along the whole course. As the water is at one level from
sea to sea, the canal is without obstruction of any kind. No locks,
dams, or water-gates are required, and vessels enter the canal from
either end and pursue their journey without interruption or
detention.

So great, however, was the eagerness of trade to take advantage of
the new route, that the volume of traffic increased within a very
short time after the opening of the canal to such an extent as to
cause serious delays in the transit, and a number of schemes were
brought forward for building other canals by which the two seas
might be united. In the end, all these plans were abandoned, and it
was decided to widen the canal sufficiently to enable it to meet the
increased demand upon its carrying capacity. It may not be without
interest to note the growth of traffic in the canal by a few
figures. From 486 ships which passed through in 1870, the number
rose to 3,100 in 1886; while the receipts increased from $1,031,875
in 1870, to $11,541,090 in 1886. The canal, when completed, was
found to have cost twenty million pounds sterling, a sum far in
adv