THE SUEZ CANAL.

33 constituted an infraction of the rights of the Sultan as Suzerain of Egypt. The stipulations in question had to be abandoned, and the sanction of the Porte was at length obtained. Russia, France, and Austria agreed to offer no opposition to the construction of the Canal.

England, however, declined to give her approval, though no overt opposition was offered by her to the practical prosecution of the enterprise during the lifetime of Said. In January, 1863, however, Ismail Pasha became Viceroy, and upon his accession the Canal Company ceased to enjoy the personal favour it had received from his predecesspr.

The story of the construction of the Canal and that of the Khedivate are too closely connected to be completely independent of each other. It will therefore make my narrative clearer if, in defiance of strict chronological order, I say here what I have to say concerning the Canal up to the date of its completion, though this completion did not take place till six years after Ismail had succeeded Said on the Viceregal throne. By the terms of the original conces sion, Said had agreed to supply the manual labour, required for the construction of the canal, free of any charge to the Company. He also engaged to subscribe ;4,ooo,ooo of shares of the Suez Canal Company, payable in fifteen instalments at intervals of a year, the total capital of the Company being ; 16,000,000. In as far as I could ever arrive at any clear understanding of the complicated and irregular negotiations which preceded the formation of the Company, these shares D