But had he stood alone he probably would have failed for a long while, and might not have lived to see the work done. The Government of India was at first sceptical as to the feasibility, and the financial results, of the project. The knowledge of the ground, its contour and capabilities, was imperfect. The conception actually was that navigation should be the first object, and irrigation quite secondary. At one time a suspension of the work was ordered, at another progress was allowed, but with very scanty resources. It is not too much to say that had the Engineer found no friend at the official court, no ally in the governing body, he must have succumbed to the adverse influences at work. But in the nick of time Thomason came to the helm of affairs, and his first care was to do battle for the canal. The authority most regarded at that juncture was the Governor-General, Lord Ellenborough. He might listen to Thomason, the new Lieutenant-Governor, who was his own nominee. Accordingly Thomason indited the most strongly argued, the most earnest, almost impassioned despatch he ever penned, pleading, appealing, for this canal. Thereby he obtained a partial, though still very insufficient, concession; and perhaps the political difficulties of that time were obstacles. His private letters show the anxiety which beset and perplexed him on this account. But he was more fortunate with the next Governor-General, Lord Hardinge, whom he had the honour of receiving at Agra, and who after the victorious termination of the first Punjab war, visited the canal
