A thorough examination will decide which of the lines is most suitable; and, as the undertaking has been acknowledged to be practicable, it only remains to make a choice. Whatever the operations that may be necessary, and however difficult, they will not intimidate modern art; their success can be no matter of doubt at the present time: it is a question of money, which the spirit of enterprise and association will not fail to resolve, provided the benefits resulting from it are in proportion to the outlay. It is easy to demonstrate that the cost of the Canal of Suez, admitting the highest estimate, is not out of proportion with the utility and the profits of this important work, which would curtail by more than one-half the distance of India from the principal countries of Europe and America. This result is made obvious in the following Table, drawn up by M. Cordier, professor of Geology:— LIST OF EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN PORTS. _Distance to Bombay in leagues_: _Viâ Suez_ | _Viâ the Atlantic_ | _Difference._ | | Constantinople 1.800 | 6.100 | 4.300 Malta 2.062 | 5.800 | 3.778 Trieste 2.340 | 5.960 | 3.620 Marseilles 2.374 | 5.650 | 3.276 Cadiz 2.224 | 5.200 | 2.976 Lisbon 2.500 | 5.350 | 2.850 Bordeaux 2.800 | 5.650 | 2.850 Havre 2.824 | 5.800 | 2.976 London 3.100 | 5.950 | 2.850 Liverpool 3.050 | 5.900 | 2.850 Amsterdam 3.100 | 5.950 | 2.850 St. Petersburgh 3.700 | 6.550 | 2.850 New York 3.761 | 6.200 | 2.439 New Orleans 3.724 | 6.450 | 2.726 With such figures before us, comment is useless; they show that all the nations of Europe, and even the United States of America, are alike interested in the opening of the canal of Suez, as well as in the rigorous and inviolable neutrality of that thoroughfare. Mohammed Saïd clearly comprehends that there is no undertaking within his power, which, from its immensity and the utility of its results, could bear comparison with that which I propose to him. What a splendid title to fame for him! What an everlasting source of wealth for Egypt!