The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1888-10-26
GREAT MARITIME ROUTES.

The most important of the great
maritime routes of the world may
be said to be that opened by M. de
Lesseps, viz, the Suez Canal, which
places the West in rapid communi-
cation with the East England holds
the principal stations upon this
route, viz, Gibraltar, Malta, Cyp-
rus, Egypt, and Perrin. From Alden,
also an English station, the English |
route bifurcates, one leading east |
wards to India and China, the other |
south-eastwards to Australia and
Eastern Africa. The Indian route
conducts travellers in seven days
from Alden to Bombay, and in eight |
days from Alden to Colombo (Cey-
lon). One can 60 in seven days also
from Colombo to Singapore, and in
eight days further from Singapore
to the island of Hongkong, where
the English solidly established, keep
an eye upon the Chinese coasts.
Ceded to England by the Celestial
Empire in 1912, Hongkong COM
mands the entrance to Canton and,
by consequence, controls the COM
merce of the southern provinces of
China. Victoria, the port of Hong
kong, which has some time been
styled the Gibraltar of the East, has
population of 100000 inhabitants,
of whom 5000 are Europeans. Vic
toria is, indeed, the maritime capi-
tai of the Chinese Sea. In front of
Hongkong, and upon the continent
of Asia, England secured, in 1860,
the territory of Kouloum, about 20
square miles in extent. A journey
from Hongkong to the great Chinese
port of Shanghai occupies about
eight days; a similar time is con-
sumed in going from Hongkong to
Yokohama. English maritime es-
Establishments have begun to be
formed in the Archipelago of Quel-
paert, at the extremity of Corea,
and it is proposed to create mill
tary port under the name of Port
Hamilton. If these projects are
carried out, the English route in the
extreme East will probably be ex-
tended to the great Russian port of
l Vladivostock, which is considered to
be destined TO an important future,
since it is the commercial metropolis
of the Amoor and of Eastern Sibe-
ria. In running from Alden to Aus
tralia many vessels make stoppage
at the end of seven days at Port
Louis, in the Mauritius. The time
occupied in running from the Mauri-
titus to Adelaide (South Australia)
is l6 days more. Some 20 days are
occupied in voyage from Alden to
Batavia, the most important point in
the Dutch possessions in the islands
of Sunda. A voyage from Singa-
pore to Sydney (New South Wales)
occupied about 20 days. The Cape
of good Hope route to the East has,
of course, declined in Importance
since the piercing of the Suez Canal.
} The maritime routes of the Pacific
Ocean are three in number, viz, &,
, that of Cape Horn, that of Panama
, (Which will greatly increase in i'm
, portance if nj. de Lesseps completes
r his second great canal), and, finally
, that of San Francisco, from which
| voyages can be made, on the one
hand to Japan and China, and on
l the other hand to Australia. San
Francisco is, beyond doubt, the
t principal Pacific port of North
: America. Voyages may be made
t from San Francisco to Yokohama in
t % days, to Hongkong in 26 days,
\ and to Sydney in 29 days. The
t Sandwich Islands afford convenient
e stopping place between San Fran
cisco and Australia. A recently
: opened route from Vancouver Island
TO Japan and China, connected as il
/, is by means of the Canadian Pacific
t Railway with the Atlantic Ocean,
/, may develop serious competition
I. with the existing great American
+ line. The existing Cape Horn route
s will share the fate of the Cape oi
d Good Hope route, and will cease tC
be one of the important maritime
d routes of the world should the
y Panama Canal be open for naviga
? tion. The great maritime routes Of
e the Atlantic Ocean, three in mum
ber, terminate at New York, Pa
:, mama, and Buenos Ayres. If thu
!, Panama Canal should ever sever the
e two Americas, it might be practc
! able to make tour of the world il
o "a days without landing at any
= point. A traveller starting from
Q Liverpool for instance, would ira
d verse the Straits of Gibraltar, th'
: Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, th,
= Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, th'
Straits of Malacca, the Pacific
Ocean, the Panama Canal, and th'
c Atlantic Ocean, finally returning t
i the point at which he set OUT