The work of excavating was begun on the 25th of April, 1859, by a few laborers who dug a small ditch in the presence of M. de Lesseps and four directors of the company, on the spot selected for the Mediterranean mouth of the canal. Immediately after this working, encampments were established all along the line, and the enterprise was earnestly pushed. At first, the work was performed without any machinery. Men and donkeys were the active force, the former armed with shovels, and the latter having a couple of baskets hung across their backs. A native would fill the baskets with sand and drive the donkey on. They proceeded to where the burden was to be deposited, and when they arrived there, the baskets were emptied, and the donkey was driven back for a fresh load. But it was found that the removal from agriculture and their other usual employments of the men necessary for digging the canal, was a serious interference with the affairs of the country. Twenty thousand men were required every month, and the drain was found to be so great that, in 1863, the Khedive refused to furnish them. Matters then came to a stand still, and the company set about replacing manual labor with machinery. Various machines were devised before success was reached, and the magnificent dredges were made, by which the canal was finished. What was at first thought to be a misfortune proved an advantage, as the dredges were far more economical than manual labor, and enabled the company to finish the work much sooner than would have been possible under the old plan. [Sidenote: THE FINISHING OF THE CANAL.] The canal was finished in the latter part of 1869, and opened for traffic on the 17th of November of that year. Forty-eight ships went from Port Said to Suez, on that day and the next, carrying guests who had been invited to the ceremonies. All nations of the world may be said to have taken part in the affair, which was on a magnificent scale, and cost many thousands of dollars to the Khedive of Egypt and the canal company. When the ceremonies were over, the canal was formally opened for business, and has been open ever since. The canal is a hundred miles long from Suez to Port Said. The following figures of its dimensions will be found interesting: FEET. Width at water line, where banks are low, 328 Width at water line, where banks are high, 190 Width at bottom, 72 Depth, 26 Slope of bank near water line, one foot in five. At frequent intervals there are wide spaces where ships may pass, and there are three lakes which were formed by the filling of depressions in the desert. These lakes are pretty sheets of water, and one of them—Lake Timsah—has become a pleasure resort where the people of Cairo go to enjoy salt-water bathing.