_ Ismailia. The Viceroy’s residence, on building site V. In the foreground Lake Timsah, in the background the sea canal. At the time when the cuttings were being dug for the canal, a residence was built to house Viceroy for his visit to the isthmus. In building site VI, before the digging machinery arrived, an initial channel was dug using very rudimentary tools by thousands of Egyptian navvies on military fatigues.