One remarkable phase of the Suez Canal traffic is the great increase that has taken place in the size of the ships passing between the two seas. When the canal was first put forward by M. de Lesseps, it was seriously argued that all that was wanted was a canal from the Damietta branch of the Nile to Suez, which, “with a very little piling and dredging at either end,” would be accessible to vessels of 300 or 400 tons burthen. Such a canal, it was maintained, “would suffice for all the wants of Egypt, and for all the local traffic of the two seas.”[155] It was also maintained, that as the tendency was to increase the size of the ships employed on the Indian service, the canal would be compelled to refuse the only traffic ever likely to be offered to it.[156] The average size of the vessels using the canal in 1870 was only 898 net tons. From this point a gradual increase of size has taken place, until in 1888 the average size had increased to 1883 tons. The intervening period of eighteen years had therefore witnessed an increase of 109 per cent. [Illustration: M. DE LESSEPS.] [Illustration: MAP OF THE =SUEZ CANAL= AND PART OF LOWER EGYPT.] [Illustration: SECTION OF THE SUEZ CANAL.] Singularly enough, it has been contended that the opening of the Suez Canal has injured both English and Egyptian interests—English interests, because it has economised tonnage, saved time, or in other words, minimised interest on capital, injured our entrepôt trade, and brought about our occupation of Egypt, with all the heavy expenditure, loss of life, and international complications which that fact has involved; Egyptian interests, because the Government of that country has had to pay large indemnities to the Suez Canal Company, and has really profited by the success of the enterprise to a much less extent than it ought to have done, had it not very improvidently sacrificed the royalties to which it was entitled under the original agreement. It is, no doubt, unfortunate that our occupation of Egypt, and the inglorious campaigns in the Soudan, should have been entailed upon us by our interest in keeping open the canal, but the statistics of our trade with the East conclusively prove that the canal has had an important share in the enormous development that has occurred since it was opened. The movement has, however, been aided by other influences, and more especially by the opening of telegraph lines, the improvements that have been effected in steamships and marine engines, the smaller commissions accepted by merchants or agents, the lower rates of freight, the reduced charges for insurance, and many collateral changes, that have all tended, in a greater or less degree, to facilitate commerce and navigation.