Page:The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 1.djvu/47

 competed with nature. It is not an easy task to join two seas. Only one ship can pass through the Canal at a time. It requires skilful pilotship. The ship sails at a very low motion. We cannot feel its motion. The water of the Canal is quite dirty. I forget its depth. It is as broad as the Aji at Ramnath. You can see men passing by on both the sides. The part near the Canal is barren. The Canal belongs to the French. Another pilot comes from Ismailia to direct the ship. The French take a certain sum of money for every ship that passes through the Canal. The income must be very large. Besides the electric lamp in the ship, there are seen lights at a distance of some 20 feet on both sides. These are the lights of different colours. The ship has to pass these rows of lights. It takes about 24 hours to pass through the Canal. The beauty of the scene is beyond my power to describe. You cannot enjoy it unless you see it.

Port Said is the terminus of the Canal. Port Said owes its existence to the Suez Canal. We anchored at Port Said in the evening. The ship was to stay there for an hour, but one hour was quite sufficient to see Port Said. Now the currency was English. Indian money is quite useless here. The boat-fare is six pence each. A penny is worth one anna. The construction of the Port Said building is French. Here we get an idea of the French life. There we saw some coffee restaurants. At the first I thought it was a theatre. But it was nothing but a coffee house. [On] one side we drink coffee or soda or tea or any drink, and on the other we hear music. Some women are playing fiddle bands. A bottle of lemonade in these cafes, as they are called, will cost you 12 pence, which we get for less than a penny in Bombay. Customers are said to hear music gratis. But really it is not so. As soon as the music is finished, a woman, with a plate covered with a handkerchief in her hand comes before every customer. That means that you give her something and we are obliged to give something. We visited the cafe and gave 6 pence to the woman. Port Said is nothing but a seat of luxury. There women and men are very cunning. The interpreter will follow to guide you. But you boldly tell him that you do not want him. Port Said is hardly as big as the proper para of Rajkot. We left Port Said at 7 p.m. Among our fellow-passengers one Mr. Jeffreys was very kind to me. He always told me to go to the table, and take something there, but I would not go. He said, after leaving Brindisi