Britain and Her Rivals in the Middle East 83

Capitulations he had no control over what French subjects did in
Egypt. The French won the support of Russia and Austria for the
scheme. Britain, thus isolated in her opposition, was reduced to
creating prejudice against it by attacking the use of forced Egyptian
labour, though she had urged its use on the British-built Cairo-
Suez railway a few years before. Nevertheless the work went on;
j^lmerston, its arch-opponent, died in 1865 and the British
opposition died with him. The Sultan finally approved the under-
taking in 1866, and the Canal was opened to the shipping of the
world by the Empress Eugenie in 1869.

Britain's statesmen had not however been content merely with
obstructing the Canal project. They had also taken active steps to
strengthen her defences along the short sea-route to India in
case the Canal became an accomplished fact. In 1863 the harbours
and docks of Malta were extended, and its fortifications streng-
thened. In 1854 Britain had acquired from the Sultan of Oman for
use as a cable-station the Kuria Muria Islands, which the French
also had made several attempts to acquire. In 1857 Britain re-
occupied Perirn. In 1862 she reached a mutual agreement with
France to respect the independence of Oman, which was in fact
already under strong influence from the Government of India. By
1870 British influence was being extended from Aden along the
southern coast of Arabia to the ports of Mukalla and Shihr, whose
trade with East Africa passed largely through Aden and whose
ruling sultan usually resided in India. Britain thus established here a
protectorate in fact, if not yet in name; and in 1876 she took
Socotra under her formal protection.

During the nine years of his occupation of Syria (1831-40),
Ibrahim Pasha had encouraged European and American mission-
aries to settle there. In particular the French Jesuits were eager to
resume their work, which had stagnated since the temporary
suppression of their order by the Pope in 1773; and by 1840 they
had re-established a powerful influence over the Maronites1 of the
Lebanon, which was exercised not only in ecclesiastical matters
1 This Christian sect, which forms the majority of the inhabitants of the
Mountain Lebanon, entered into communion with the Church of Rome at the
time of the Crusades, but is distinguished by its retention of Syriac as its
liturgical language.