The number of accredited members of the party was eighty-five, from
fourteen different countries. There were ten official representatives of
governments; sixty-two chambers of commerce,
and eight other societies or organizations were represented by their
delegates.
Of our own citizens among the party were Messrs. Cyrus W. Field, delegate
of the Chamber of Commerce of the city of New York, and Washington Ryer,
representing the State of California.
I enclose a translation of the report subscribed by the delegates. They
speak of the completion of the work as merely a matter of time and
money.
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
[Translation.]
We, the undersigned, delegates of the chambers of commerce to the
canal of Suez, after having examined the works already done, and
having taken into consideration the possibility of the enterprise,
report:
We started the 7th instant from Alexandria, by railroad, for Cairo,
where we remained until the morning of the 9th. We then proceeded by
railroad to Zagazig, where we embarked at 9 o’clock a. m., in boats
drawn by mules and camels, on the fresh-water canal made by Mehemet
Ali, and arrived the same day at Tel-el-Kebir, a station of the
company.
The 10th, in the morning, we continued our journey in the same
manner, and at noon we entered upon the fresh-water canal made by
the company. At 5 o’clock p. m. we arrived at Ismailia, the central
station on the Suez canal.
The 11th, we remained at Ismailia to examine the works there, as well
as those of Serapium, the most elevated points of the isthmus.
The 12th, we started from Ismailia, by the sea canal, in boats of
small draught drawn by mules and camels; we arrived at Kantara at 4
o’clock p. m, having visited the important workshops and works of El
Gaisr and El Terdan. From this point, in many places, and for a
length altogether of sixty kilometres, (about thirty-six miles,) the
canal is already excavated to its full width. The portion previously
traversed was only about one-third of the width proposed.
The 13th, we left Kantara, in the same way, for Port Said; twenty
kilometres (twelve miles) before reaching this place we found five
small steamboats, which brought us to the Mediterranean. There we
examined the piers in course of construction.
The 14th, we remained at Port Said to visit the important buildings,
workshops [and materials which the company possessed in that
town.
The 15th, we returned by boat to Ismailia, and the 16th, in the
morning, we started for Suez by the fresh-water canal in boats drawn
by mules and camels, arriving at Suez in the evening. The two locks,
intended to connect the sea canal with the fresh-water canal in the
course of construction at Ismailia, are not yet finished, and a
transshipment here is now necessary.
Our passage from the Mediterranean to the Red sea was accomplished in
twenty-seven hours, as follows: eleven hours from Port Said to
Ismailia, and sixteen hours thence to Suez.
A telegraph wire extends the whole length of the canal, communicating
with the wires of Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez.
[Page 319]
During our voyage we had opportunity to observe the excavators and
other machinery used for digging the canal. All the works belonging
to the company appeared to us built and equipped in a solid and
permanent manner. In our opinion, the construction of a ship canal
across the Isthmus is only a question of time and money.
We are informed that the company has already made contracts with
various contractors for the completion of the ship canal by the 1st
of July, 1868, without exceeding the actual capital, including
therein the indemnity due by the Egyptian government under the award
of the Emperor Napoleon III.
During the whole of our trip we received the greatest hospitality
from Mr. de Lesseps and the engineers of the company, and these
gentlemen answered freely all the questions which we put to
them.
[Signed by the delegates.]
