Waterways and Water Transport in Different Countries by J. Stephen Jeans

not appear to have been accurately ascertained, and as a consequence of having to work to some extent upon rock, instead of in sand or gravel, the progress made was less than had been anticipated. For this reason also it has been found necessary to raise additional capital to the amount of double the original capital; that is to say, by an issue of 60,000 additional shares of 500 francs each, bearing 6 per cent. interest. In order that the canal may become a remunerative undertaking, it is calculated that 3½ million francs of net revenue must be realised annually. Whether the canal will ever realise this financial result is doubtful, but, if it is ever completed, it will be of undoubted advantage to commerce in saving 100 to 250 miles in the passage from the Ægean to the Black Sea, and in avoiding the dangers of the coast of Southern Greece. [Illustration: THE ISTHMUS OF CORINTH CANAL.] Meanwhile, the canal works, for which the capital was chiefly found in France, have been abandoned, pending the acquisition of additional funds. There are those who hold that it is little likely that the canal will ever be consummated, and the unfortunate issue of the works on the Panama Canal appears to justify the view that the French nation, who are almost alone concerned, will hesitate before they put their hands very deeply into their pockets in order to carry to completion an undertaking which is by no means certain to be a financial success. FOOTNOTES: [213] Plin., t. iv. c. 4. [214] ‘Moniteur de la Banque et de la Bourse.’ [215] These particulars are taken from a report made to the Foreign Office by Her Majesty’s Secretary of Legation at Athens.