The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1886-08-10
STEAM LINES TO INDIA.

Captain Hume, in the course of a
lecture delivered at the Hull Royal
Institution on April ID, after tracing
the various overland routes to India
as far back as the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, said that the history of
the Peninsular and Oriental Com
pany was of considerable interest,
not only as the oldest and finest of
the many steam fleets of the present
day, but from its having been, for
nearly half century, the connect
ing link between England and her
possessions and colonies in the Far
East, and also as illustrating the
progress of naval architecture and
marine engineering during the same
period. Before the year 1887 the
Peninsular mails were conveyed by
sailing post-oflice packets between
Falmouth and Lisbon, but, in con-
sequence of the irregularity of their
arrivals and departures, the first
mail contract was signed with the
Peninsular Steamship Company,
which had been started q year or
two before. In 1912 the company
obtained the contract for conveying
the mails to India by the overland
route, and gradually also extended
their operations to China and Austria
liza. The service, which was at first
monthly, in 1854 became q weekly
one, and remains so to the present
time. The development of steam
communication with India rendered
imperative shorter route than the
old one Ella the Cape, and although
for centuries communication had
been maintained by Tartars across
Asia Minor to Constantinople, it
was not until Lieutenant Waghorn
in 1929, made the journey from
England Uia Trieste and Alexandria,
and thence across the Egyptian
desert to Suez, that the scheme was
considered practicable. He did not
succeed in reaching India in the
time he anticipated, the steamer
which was sent to meet him having
broken down, and he had to hire an
open native boat and to sail down
the Red Sea to Jeddah, subsequently,
reaching Bombay 142 days after
leaving London. Not discouraged,
Waghorn returned to London, and,
in spite of ridicule and opposition,
with the assistance of Mehemet Ali,
he organized the route through
Egypt, by sailing boats at first, and
later on by small steamers, to Cairo,
and from thence, some eighty miles
across the sandy desert, to Suez by
Wagons. The lecturer gave a
graphic description of his own eX-
perience when crossing as passenger
to India to join the Calcutta station
of the p. and o. Steam Navigation
Company, before the railway or the
Suez Canal was begun. Some idea
of the magnitude Of the p. and O.
Company might be gathered from
the fact that the total revenue last
year amounted to nearly two and a
half millions, and the Canal dues to
nearly 2OO,OOOl. The magnificent
fleet of this company consisted OF
fifty-one splendid ocean-going steam
ers, besides tugs and tenders, will
a registered tonnage of 1927 tons
After giving some very interesting
particulars of the mail contract, TIM
lecturer referred to the Orient Steam
Navigation Company, which, though
but comparatively recently estab
lished, consisted of six splendid
steamers, and, in conjunction will
the Pacific Steam Navigation Com
pany, ran fortnightly between Lon
don and Australia, and the steamer
of which line have made some re
markably quick passages. Captain
Hume then described the route takel
by each line, and gave brief out
line of most of the principal port
en- route starting from London ant
proceeding to Brindisi Uid the Mon
Gems Tunnel, and from thence b.
steamer to Alexandria and acros
Egypt, proceeding down the Re-
Sea and across the Indian Ocean t
Bombay, and on to Japan ant
Australia. = China Mail.