- _ Cover of the album of water-colours - _ The Arrival of the Boats in Port Said - _ International vessels at the entrance to Port Said - _ The Aigle’s entry into Port Said
Official Journal of the French Empire Monday, 29 November 1869 (n°328 p1527)
When the Empress left Alexandria to visit Upper Egypt with its ancient monuments - the sphinxes half-buried in sand and the pyramids, those witnesses of ancient times and recent victories - she promised to receive the French inhabitants of this vast city on her return. So it was that when she got back to Alexandria after her excursion to that land of history, Her Majesty dedicated a day to receiving French nobles who had settled in Egypt. This ceremony took place at the Consul General’s residence and was particularly enjoyed by the august sovereign who received the homage of these French people so far removed from their motherland. […] The next day, the Aigle left for Port Said, the new town built at the entrance of the Suez Canal. Her arrival in the port caused great excitement: many sail and steam boats came to greet her and an enormous crowd filled the quays and roads. The Aigle, surrounded by the steamers which had followed her, came in to the sound of gun salutes from all the war ships moored in the port. It was a magnificent sight from the beach from where you could see a forest of masts. In front of the seawall, there were five armoured British frigates and some Egyptian ships and, at sea, there were two large Austrian frigates at the cutwater. The yacht of the Prince Royal of Prussia arrived a few moments after the Aigle.