The Khedive's Egypt; Or, the Old House of Bondage Under New Masters. Or, the Old House of Bondage Under New Masters  (English, Paperback, de Leon Edwin)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: heads of Europe, in commemoration of the inauguration of the canal, unsolicited by any one, he assigned one of the most conspicuous places, next himself in that picture, to the photographic likeness of M. Ruyssennaers, in recognition of his great services in regard to the work; and Christendom and the company surely cannot afford to be less grateful than the Khedive, when the hour comes for their public recognition also. Suez has also profited by the canal, although not so much as her younger sisters on the Isthmus. Before the Suez Canal was a success, Suez had a certain impulse given to it by the transit, and its connection with the P. and 0. line of steamers, then and for a long time the monopolists for the Indian voyage; after the enterprise and energy of Waghorn had demonstrated the superiority of the overland transit to the tedious passage round the Cape. In those early days Suez was a crumbling old Arab town, with a sparse population of natives, and not a dozen European residents; possessing, it is true, a large rambling hotel, built by the P. and 0. Company, which gave the returning Indian traveller a foretaste of European entertainment again. But there was a general air of desolation and decay about the place, which was rather disheartening. With the new influx however, through the SUEZ AND THE EUPHRATES VALLEY RAILROAD. 43 canal, a revival has taken place, although it is sad to record the fact that two-thirds of the resident foreigners are men; the gentler sex apparently shunning Suez, or being dispensed with by the ungallant males who have congregated there, and made it a kind of Eastern bachelors' hall. The population now comprises about 2500 foreigners, and about 11,000 Arabs, in all 13,500; the floating population is impossible to estimate. The vicinity...