Before Suez Canal, the British had considered another trade route to Asia In 1836, the Empire’s quest to explore an overland route linking the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean through the Euphrates river met with a tragic end. Apr 01, 2021 · 07:30 pm The opening of the Suez Canal in 1868 created a new trade route between Europe and Asia as an alternative to the long sea journey around the Cape of Good Hope, but a different route had also been given serious consideration. In 1798, a survey of the Isthmus of Suez had incorrectly shown the Red Sea to be 8.5 m higher than the Mediterranean, an idea finally put to rest by a more accurate survey carried out by British army officer Captain Francis Rawdon Chesney in 1830.