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| Official Journal of the French Empire Wednesday 1 December 1869 (n°330 p1535) |
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| Suez. The canal leads to the middle of the harbour where a squadron
of large transatlantic vessels from Britain, France, Holland,
Austria and Russia were anchored. They were preparing for the
canal journey and wanted to benefit from the great works on whose
admirable results we have just been recounting. Today, Suez is
no longer a ghost town, buried in sand and lost in solitude. The
canal has given it new life. In previous times, its harbour was empty, its roads deserted, its people poverty-stricken. In particular, the inhabitants had no drinking water and they were obliged to have it brought, at high cost, from the springs called the Moses fountains. Now, the fresh water canal from Ismailia brings them the waters of the Nile. New houses are being built on this arid land. A large population now fills the twisted roads of the old city, the people pass under the Moorish gate, they crowd up the bazaar area with its heaps of strange items of Oriental commerce and industry, and occasionally they stop outside one particular house facing the sea. This is very simple but it is pregnant with history. For it was here that General Bonaparte stayed during his visit to the Red Sea. |
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