About ten years after the triumph of Suez, his restless spirit prompted him to undertake a stupendous task, which even then filled his friends and advisers with anxiety. He had long conceived the idea of uniting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as he had already done the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. He convened a Congress of all the European and American Powers to decide as to the routes to be selected for the construction of a canal--whether _viâ_ Panama, Tehuantepec, Nicaragua, or Darien. Although opinion was greatly divided at the Congress as to the route, he favoured that _viâ_ Panama, and, ultimately, carried his opinion. This fatal step was the origin of all the troubles of his declining life. His glory seemed like to wane before the disasters that befell his project, and his title of "Le Grand Français" appeared to have been forgotten. [Illustration: COUNT DE LESSEPS AND GROUP OF SEVEN CHILDREN. _From a Photograph._] [Illustration: COUNT AND COUNTESS DE LESSEPS AND GROUP OF NINE CHILDREN. _From a Photo by Nadar, Paris._] He formed his Company in 1881 with a capital of £24,000,000, which did not last long. Between 1883 and 1887 further moneys were obtained by means of several loans and lotteries, and these funds were supplied to the fatal abyss, until the amount reached the enormous sum of £60,000,000. This sum was also spent and squandered. His staff showed a want of foresight, and a want of something which is better left unexplained. The Panama scandals in Paris revealed enough to the world to allow everyone to judge for himself. But Count Ferdinand de Lesseps was ignorant of all the vicious stratagems employed, and was in no way responsible. He, however, with his son Charles, had to bear the brunt of the catastrophe and atone for others. [Illustration: COUNT AND COUNTESS DE LESSEPS AND GROUP OF ELEVEN CHILDREN. _From a Photo by Nadar, Paris._] The works were stopped in 1887 for want of funds. The Canal at that time was only partly cut. The machinery, houses, barracks, huts, sheds, were all deserted. From being once the scene of active life and the centre of 20,000 living beings, the Isthmus of Panama is now forsaken, and the sepulchre of the hard-earned savings of many a French peasant. The weight of such a grave responsibility as the loss of over £60,000,000, subscribed principally from the purses of the French thrifty, together with the prosecution of his son, has increased his age tenfold. He was strong and hopeful at eighty; he is senile and weak at eighty-nine. The accompanying photographs show Count de Lesseps at the commencement of his fatal task in Panama, and at the present day. [Illustration: PRESENT DAY. _From a Photo by V. Daireaux, Paris._]