of the mails between England and India was
determined upon in 1839. The Peninsular and Oriental Company established
a service of steamers between England and Alexandria, and between Suez
and India. In spite of this endeavour nothing was actually accomplished
with regard to a canal until 1846, when a mixed commission was appointed
to enquire into the subject. This commission entirely exploded the error
into which Lepere had fallen in reporting a difference of level between
the two seas.

A plan was projected in 1855 by M. Linant Bey and M. Mougel Bey, under
the superintendence of M. de Les-seps, who had already received a firman
of concession from Said Pasha. This plan recommended a direct canal
between Suez and Pelusium, which should pass through the Bitter Lakes,
Lake Tinseh, Ballah, and Menzaleh, and connecting with the sea at each
end by means of a lock. A fresh-water canal from Bulak to the centre of
the isthmus and thence through Suez, with a conduit for conveying water
to Pelusium, was also proposed. This project was in 1856 submitted to
an international commission company composed of representatives from
England, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Prussia, and Spain,
and the following modification was suggested: that the line of the canal
to the north should be slightly altered and brought to a point seventeen
and a half miles west of Pelusium, this change being determined upon
from the fact that the water at this point was from twenty-five to
thirty feet deep at a distance of two miles from the coast, whereas at
Pelusium this depth of water was only to be found at a distance of
five miles from the coast. It was suggested that the plan for locks
be abolished, and the length of the jetties at Suez and Port Said be
diminished. Various other details of a minor character were determined,
and this project was finally accepted and carried through by the Suez
Canal Company.

[Illustration: 259.jpg FERDINAND DE LESSEPS]

In 1854 M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, whose father was the first
representative of France in Egypt after the occupation, and who was
chosen consul at Cairo (1831--1838), obtained a preliminary concession
from Said Pasha, authorising him to form a company for the purpose of
excavating a canal between the two seas, and laying down the connections
on which the concession was granted. This was followed by the drawing up
and revision of the project mentioned above, and by the renewal in
1856 of the first