EVERYTHING NEAR AND DEAR Vera Johnston July 10 1890, Suez Canal. Approaching Port Said. The endless Suez Canal stretched on. The ditch of dirty No one could stand the sun on the Suez Canal, everyone hid in their cabins, and even then, they sat with fans, sweating; barely breathing. The closer to the earth, the redder the sky became. Rare stars were already beginning to twinkle in the silvery heights; the thin crescent of the moon glowing quiet and low above the pink half-light of the horizon