In due time we entered the remarkably beautiful harbour of Trincomalee. Dotted with numerous islands, all thickly covered with rich vegetation, the background filled up with a series of low forest-clad hills, the general scene--tropical in character--could scarcely be exceeded in loveliness. But the hot, damp atmosphere, as we landed and drove through the town of the same name, was such that we experienced no desire to prolong our stay.
Arrived at Aden, orders awaited the Commander to proceed at once to Suez, which he accordingly did; but the circumstance caused a good deal of excitement in the gallant Enniskillings, among whom the wish was father to the belief that they were _sure_ to be landed and sent to Abyssinia.
Several vessels connected with the Abyssinian expedition were anchored in the Gulf of Suez as the _Euphrates_ entered it. The canal across the isthmus had recently been begun, the troops arriving at either end having still to be conveyed by rail and then re-embarked. Here we speedily learned by telegraph that our corresponding transport from Alexandria had met with a mishap so serious in kind that delay of not less than three weeks was inevitable before we could proceed.
Extensive docks were then in progress near to our anchorage. They were formed from material raised from the sea-bed by dredgers and other mechanical means; the masonry supplied from the neighbouring Akaba range of hills. It was an unpleasant sight, as it was suggestive, to see in the ooze so raised, considerable numbers of human bones, confirming to some degree the evil repute assigned to Suez boatmen, chiefly Greeks and Italians.
A considerable number of Egyptian troops were encamped on the heights behind the city. The men, strong and active in appearance, had, it was said, been slaves, captured by the Bedouins in the Soudan and sold to agents of the Viceroy; they were dressed _à la Zouaves_, and armed with swords and matchlocks.
A trip being organized for the purpose, we proceeded by boat drawn by a couple of mules along the Freshwater canal; at the end of about five miles arriving at Little Shaloof, where arrangements were in progress so that by means of locks a junction between the two waterways should take place. From there we proceeded as before, some six miles more, to Grand Shaloof, where it was said the works in progress could be best examined. At that place the depth of the channel in course of excavation was 30 feet, the breadth 150. Crowds of workmen, including French, Italian, Maltese, and Greeks, were employed as navvies, the soil being carried up the sides by small rails, and deposited on either side to form embankments. In the successive layers of gravel, sand, and clay in which the workmen were engaged, organic remains existed in considerable abundance; among them oyster shells, encrinites, bones assigned to mastodon, and gigantic teeth of the carcharodon. The canal is in working order from Port Said to Ismaliah, where, in Lake Timsah, it is joined by the ancient canal from Bulak.