The Duke of St. Alban's has been visiting the Suez
Canal, and has been induced to write a long letter to the Times about it. The writer being a Duke, his communication is printed in large type ; but it does not amount to much. The Duke saw powerful dredges at work at the Red Sea entrance ; saw a wonderfully deep and broad ditch at El GaiSr ; saw Ismailia, a city built by the Company, where the very dogs are European ; saw another town of 10,000 people near the Mediterranean entrance, and having originally been sceptical, now believes in the canal. Well, that is pleasant for the canal ; but would not the opinion of a tenth-rate engineer be rather more convincing to the public ? He, at any rate, would know whether a canal cut under water, with no river to scour it, would or would not silt up.
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