. The mastery of water. at the north-east corner, whichin olden times formed one of the land-bridges by whichmen conducted commerce or made warlike expeditions,its boundaries are washed by the waves of the sea. Nodoubt, in past times, the Dark Continent was whollysurrounded by water, and the Red Sea was one with theMediterranean. But drifted sand from the desert, andNile mud from the Abyssinian uplands, combined to formthat strip of land which caused the gallant East-Indiamenof the early nineteenth century to sail aU round the Capeof Good Hope on their voyages to and from the IndianOcean. This
. The mastery of water. at the north-east corner, whichin olden times formed one of the land-bridges by whichmen conducted commerce or made warlike expeditions,its boundaries are washed by the waves of the sea. Nodoubt, in past times, the Dark Continent was whollysurrounded by water, and the Red Sea was one with theMediterranean. But drifted sand from the desert, andNile mud from the Abyssinian uplands, combined to formthat strip of land which caused the gallant East-Indiamenof the early nineteenth century to sail aU round the Capeof Good Hope on their voyages to and from the IndianOcean. This defect in the distribution of land and water wasnot a new discovery, and the modern world cannot claimall the credit for attempting to remove it. The Greekhistorian, Herodotus, describes a canal that was con-structed across the Delta about 600 It was ninety-two miles long, 100 feet wide, and twenty feet sixty miles were cut by hand, the rest passingthrough shallow lakes. The journey through it took four. 112 THE MASTERY OF WATER. days. Gradually sand and mud encroached upon it, untilit was no longer navigable ; but in the seventh centuryof the Christian era it was re-opened by the Caliph Omen. Eight hundred years later, the merchants of the greattrading cities of mediaeval Italy—Venice and Genoa—were impressed with the importance of a shorter way tothe Far East. They realised that a canal was necessary,but for various reasons the project was only talked about,and not undertaken. The same fate befell the suggestionof Napoleon, who gave a good deal of thought to itsproblems. The proposal which may be regarded as thereal starting-point came from Pere Enfantin, who broughtthe matter to the notice of Ferdinand de Lesseps, theFrench Vice-Consul, and Mehemet Ali, who was then theruling Pasha. From that time forward de Lesseps devoted himself tothe problem. An immediate start was prevented by anoutbreak of plague, and it was 1845 before any real stepcould be taken.
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