Description
Antique print dated 1895.
The page is over 115 years old and in good condition.
In order to enhance and protect the page we have set in within a bespoke frame and mount.
Frame size 400mm x 370mm. available also in a
gold frame, your choice. RtW.145.
Entitled – Port Said. The entrance to the Canal.
Below the picture an inscription reads:
Port Said. – We leave Messina by an Italian steamer belonging to the Florio Rubattino Company, and reach Port Said in four days.
This town was chosen as the head of the Suez Canal on account of the close proximity of deep water to the shore.
The land about Port Said is so low that the approach to the harbour would be somewhat difficult were it not for a lighthouse, 170ft. high.
This lighthouse is built of concrete, and stands on the sea-shore, to the right of the harbour and close to the western mole; every 20 seconds an electric search-light, visible at a distance of 20 miles, flashes from the summit.
The town itself is of comparatively recent growth, and contains 37,000 inhabitants.
To the west lies the Arab quarter, with a population of 6,600; here also is a mosque, and the chief street of Port Said, the Place de Lesseps.
Generally speaking, the town consists of wooden shanties, low cafes, and gambling-houses; the streets swarm with flies and mosquitoes.
Water is brought in pipes from the Sweet Water Canal at Ismailia, and a three days’ supply is stored in reservoirs.
The port comprises a quay, a basin of 137 acres, and a dry dock nearly 450ft. in length; outside these lies the roadstead, between two breakwaters, respectively 1,500yds. and 2,726yds. long, but only 800yds. apart at the ends nearest the sea.
All steamers stay a short time at Port Said, either for coaling or to wait their turn to enter the Canal.
Opposite the anchorage on the Marina is the French Office, where pilots are engaged, and where a detailed description of the vessel passing through is recorded.
Also in this office is a wooden model of the Canal for the guidance of the officials.
There is but little at Port Said to interest the traveller, excepting the shops, in which one may purchase every kind of Oriental goods.
If you buy an item and then see it relisted this is because we occasionally have more than one available, each page is
original and not a photocopy.
Thank you for looking, please visit our shop.
