, and Prince Amadeus of Italy also
took part in the festivity. The initial ceremony was on November 15th,
at Port Said. Emperor Francis Joseph landed at midday, and was received
with pomp and magnificence by the Khedive Ismail. There were splendid
decorations in the streets and triumphal arches were raised. Meanwhile
salutes were exchanged between the batteries and the ships of war in the
harbour. At night there were gorgeous illuminations and fireworks. The
khedive gave a grand ball on his own yacht, at which the Emperor of
Austria and all the distinguished guests were in attendance. The French
empress then arrived in Alexandria, and was received by Ismail and
Francis Joseph with salutes of guns and the acclamations of the people.
The next day the French imperial yacht Aigle, with the empress on board,
proceeded to steam up the canal, being followed by forty vessels. They
reached Ismailia after eight hours and a half, and were there met by
vessels coming from the south end at Suez. On November 19th the fleet
of steamers, led by the French imperial yacht, set out for Suez. They
anchored overnight at the Bitter Lakes, and on November 21st the whole
fleet of forty-five steamers arrived at Suez and entered the Red Sea.
The empress, accompanied by the visiting fleet, returned on November
22nd, and reached the Mediterranean on the 23rd.

England, the country which more than any other had opposed the progress
of the canal, derived more benefit than any other country from its
completion. In 1875 the British government bought 176,600 shares from
the khedive for a sum of nearly $20,000,000; and at the present time the
value of these shares has risen more than fourfold. By this acquisition
the British government became the largest shareholder. Of the shipping
which avails itself of this route to the East, which is shorter by six
thousand miles than any other, about eighty per cent, is British. In
1891, of 4,207 ships, with a grain tonnage of 12,218,000, as many as
3,217 of 9,484,000 tons were British.

Extensive works were undertaken in 1894 for the widening of the canal.
Illuminated buoys and electric lights have been introduced to facilitate
the night traffic, so that, proceeding continuously, instead of stopping
overnight, ships can now pass through in less than twenty hours in place
of the thirty-five or forty hours which were formerly taken to effect
the passage. These greater facilities postponed the need of discussing
the