spirit, so powerful in England, will soon have done justice to interested opposition and superannuated objections. Allow me, in case of need, to count upon your legitimate influence. I have already written to our friend M. Arles Dufour, Secretary-General to the Imperial Commission at the Universal Exhibition of Paris, asking him to communicate with you.

X.

To M. ARLES DUFOUR, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, PARIS.

CAIRO, December 6, 1854.

My letter of the 30th of November will have informed you of the Viceroy's intention to open the maritime canal, and to grant a concession for its construction to a company of capitalists, of all nations, which he has commissioned me to form.

The first thing to be done to make it possible to carry on the necessary operations in a desert, in the mere surveying of which we four are to be accompanied by thirtytwo camels laden with provisions for ourselves, servants, and animals, will of course be the making of a sweet water canal to be fed by the Nile, and which, passing Kankha and Belbeis, will follow the route of the ancient canal of the Pharaohs as far as Lake Timsah.

XI.

TO MADAME DELAMALLE, Paris.

(Continuation of Fournal.)

December 10th.

I HAVE just been spending a few days with the Viceroy at Tourah, at the foot of Mokattam, where he has set up a military camp.

We are back at Cairo. When the Consuls-General called on his Highness at the Citadel, he repeated to them what he had already said to me at Tourah: "In case any foreign agent should make objections to the opening of the Suez Canal on the part of his Government, he should request

LETTER TO M. ARLES DUFOUR.

39

that those objections be stated in writing, that he might be able to draw up a document to submit to the verdict of civilised nations." This was in reply to certain hostile expressions of the Consul-General for England, who has probably received instructions by telegraph.

I dined to-day with M. de Léon, Consul-General for the United States, who proposed a toast to the success of the Suez Canal.

XII.

To M. ARLES DUFOUR, PARIS.

CAIRO, December 14th.

THE Viceroy wrote by the very first mail after his arrival at Cairo to inform the Sultan of his intention to open the Suez Canal.

The Porte has recently spoken in the most complimentary terms with regard to the assistance now being rendered to its cause by the Viceroy, adding an expression of regret for the loss of two Egyptian men-of-war in the Black Sea and the death of Admiral Hassan Pacha. To this the Viceroy replied that he had nothing left to desire so long as the Sultan's own valuable life was spared, and he was able to come to his assistance; adding, that he was now more ready than ever to make fresh sacrifices for the common cause. Then followed some remarks on the railway the Viceroy proposes making between Cairo and Suez, in which England takes a great interest; and, after alluding to the unfortunate condition of the national Exchequer, as left by the late Abbas Pacha, his Highness pointed out the advantages which might ensue from the formation of international financial companies for the execution of useful works in the Ottoman Empire-the making of the Suez Canal, for instance.

He added that he had no doubt of the Sultan's acquiescence in the two schemes, for a railway and a canal.

He thought it useless to enter into longer explanations, which he is, however, prepared to give if necessary, by forwarding all the documents in support of the scheme. Such an act of respectful courtesy, to which the conventions relating to the Government of Egypt do not strictly bind

Mohammed Said, will doubtless be appreciated as it deserves at Constantinople, where the maintenance of the present friendly relations with the Viceroy is much desired.

My previsions on the subject of certain foreign susceptibilities have been soon enough realised. Influenced probably by the presence in Cairo of Mr. Murray, late English Consul-General in Egypt and now Minister in Persia, who has too long carried on the old policy of antagonism and jealous rivalry between France and England, Mr. Bruce has begun to make some opposition. For instance, he has told the Viceroy that he is in too much of a hurry about the Suez Canal affair. His Highness replied firmly that in a question of civilisation and progress he could not believe that he should meet with opposition from any European Power, but that if any foreign agent should presently have objections to make on the part of his Government, he should request that they be stated in writing, so that he might draw up his document.

The English mail is just going, so I cannot give you my ideas to-day about the formation of our company, in which the money kings of Paris and London will be able to make their profits for the common good, although it will not do to let them have their own way entirely. Subscription lists, open for a certain time, will allow of the public taking shares at par.

The survey of the isthmus is put off until the 24th, that the necessary preparations may be made. Canvass opinion in England. Heaven helps those who help themselves.

XIII.

To MADAME DELAMALLE, PARIS.

(Continuation of Journal.)

December 16th.

TO-DAY, when I went to take my letters on board a passenger steamer, I came across my old Spanish friend General Pavia, now on his way home from Manilla, where he has been acting as Governor of the Philippine Islands for the last three years. You will remember that we knew him well at Barcelona, when he was second governor

INTERVIEW WITH THE VICEROY.

41

there (Cabo Secundo). All Spaniards, as I think rightly, consider me a fellow-countryman. We conversed in my mother tongue. General Pavia is delighted with the Suez Canal project, and says that the shortening of the distance between Europe and the Indian Ocean will lead to a time of great prosperity for the Philippine Islands, where Spain numbers some five million native subjects, and that, instead of being, as they are now, some two hundred years behind the age-one of the results of the long and tedious voyage round the Cape-they will become a source of immense wealth to the mother country.

Fearing that the Viceroy was on board the Fernsi (Turquoise), near the Boulac docks, I went to see him. He told me Mr. Bruce had asked him to receive Mr. Murray, whom his Highness suspects of having instigated the persecution to which he was subjected by Abbas Pacha, and that he wished to avoid the visit in question, adding: "I cannot understand how Mr. Murray can have the insolence to ask to see me."

I begged him not to hurt the English Agent's feelings in the matter, and he replied: "You don't know what insinuations have been thrown out to induce me to do honour to Mr. Murray; unless I do, they say England will take offence, comparing my treatment of him with my reception of you. But I said I did not receive you as a Frenchman or as a Minister, but as my old and well-tried friend; that, far from having done too much, I had not done enough, and that if any rooms in the Citadel had been large and comfortable enough for you, I should have made you stay with me, instead of giving you a separate palace."

"What your Highness has just said," I replied, "does but add another to my many motives for urging you to name an early day to Mr. Bruce for giving audience to Mr. Murray. If you have any grievances against him, I do not ask you to forget them; but you must remember that in exalted public positions grave interests are often compromised by a betrayal of private animosity. All this, however, need not prevent your keeping your own opinion, and giving your confidence and friendship to none but those who are worthy of them."

As usual with him, when a decided opinion of his met with dissent, the Viceroy changed the subject; but, for all that, words in season are not thrown away upon him.

Presently news was brought of the arrival near the barrage of the Viceroy's steamer with his sister on board, come from Constantinople at the invitation of her brother. Mohammed Said started to meet her, whilst Prince Mustapha Pacha landed with me, and drove me to the palace prepared for his aunt's reception. It was in the garden belonging to it that Kleber was assassinated. We went into the court, and saw two buffaloes tied up opposite the steps, ready for sacrifice at the ceremony of welcome. Amongst the great families of the land it is customary to slay a victim on the return of a beloved relation. The animal is killed just as the traveller crosses the threshold, the blood flowing into a trench, across which the new arrival steps, when he is congratulated and escorted to his apartments. Troops lined the road between Boulac and Cairo, along which the princess passed in an open carriage, wearing a semi-transparent veil such as is now the fashion in Constantinople.

The Viceroy had told me that he wished his "little sister," who had been exiled from Egypt by Abbas Pacha, to return in triumph; and these public honours rendered to a woman seemed to me a most significant sign of Mussulman progress.

Volleys of artillery announced the landing of the princess, and the troops presented arms. Soon the Viceroy dashed up in a phaeton, driven by himself, followed at a short distance by the great dignitaries and officers of all ranks in full uniform, riding at a foot pace in two straggling rows, a little in advance of the princess's carriage. As the latter approached, the order to present arms was passed along the line, and the soldiers cheered. The Viceroy's sister, whose eyes alone were visible, looked about her, but did not return the salutations. Behind her equipage came some ten carriages filled with veiled women, and followed by several mounted eunuchs, a squadron or two of light infantry, and a few lancers and cuirassiers wearing Saracen helmets.

At last the princess arrived at her palace on the Place