The Peninsular and Oriental Company,
commonly known as the “P. & O.” Co., is the second oldest steam-packet company in existence. It had its origin in a small steamship undertaking, started in 1836 under the name of the “Peninsular Company,” to trade between Falmouth and Lisbon. Their first vessel was the William Fawcett, a paddle-steamer of 206 tons, built in 1829. The first steamer despatched for India by this company was the Hindostan of 1,800 tons and 250 horse-power, about the year 1842. From that time until now the history of the company has been a continuous record of progress and prosperity They now carry the mails not only to India, but to China and Australia, having in their service a magnificent fleet of over sixty steamers, ranging from 2,500 tons to 7,560 tons, and aggregating some 220,000 tons. The SS. Caledonia is at present the largest and fastest vessel employed in the Indian trade, and has succeeded in landing her mails in Bombay within 12½ days of their despatch from London. Their contract time for the delivery of mails in Shanghai is 37½ days, and 35½ days to Melbourne, Australia. Over $35,000,000 have been expended on the fleet of the P. & O. Company in the last twenty years, and they are now building several steamers of 8,000 tons for the mail service. Among the larger boats of the fleet at present are the Arcadia, 6,670 tons; Australia, 6,901; Himalaya, 6,898; Oceanea, 6,670, and the Victoria, 6,527 tons. During the Crimean war, and at the time of the Indian mutiny, this company rendered important services to the Government in the rapid conveyance of troops and stores. The regularity with which the mail service has been conducted is remarkable when the length of the routes is considered. It is seldom that the mails are even an hour late in being delivered. The ships combine all the latest improvements in their construction, machinery and internal fittings.
P. & O. STEAMSHIP “CALEDONIA.”
The P. & O. steamers leave London every Saturday for India, and fortnightly for Australia and China. The first-class ordinary fare to Bombay, Madras, or Calcutta by this line is £55 sterling; second-class, from £35 to £37 10s. To Adelaide, Melbourne or Sydney, Australia, first-class, £60 to £70; second-class, £35 to £40. To China and Japan, first-class, £73 10s.; second-class, £42. The rates for special accommodation are, of course, considerably higher.
The Orient Steam Navigation Company was formed in 1877 by two well-known shipping firms—Anderson, Anderson & Co. and F. Green & Co. The first steamer to leave London under the flag of the Orient Line was the Garonne, acquired by purchase, and followed by the Chimborazo, Lusitania and Cuzco. Two of these are now used on exclusively pleasure cruising voyages in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, while a number of large and powerful ships have been built for the mail line. The Orient, built by Robert Napier & Sons, Glasgow, in 1879, was the largest steamer constructed on the Clyde up to that time. She was 400 feet long, 5,365 tons register, and with engines of 6,000 indicated horse-power. Her speed was seventeen knots on her trial trip. The latest additions to the fleet are the Ophir, 6,057 tons; Orizaba, 6,077; Oroya, 6,057, and the Ormuz, 6,031 tons. The Ophir is 482 feet long, 53 feet beam, and 37 feet moulded depth. She is fitted with triple expansion engines and twin screws, and all the other modern improvements which go to make up a “floating palace.” The company receives a subsidy from the Imperial Government of £85,000 sterling per annum for carrying the mails, which are despatched fortnightly from London calling at Plymouth, Gibraltar, Naples, Port Said, Suez, Colombo, Albany, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney, Australia.
The British India Steam Navigation Company dates from 1855, when the East India Company first took steps to establish a mail service between Calcutta and Burmah. In 1862 the name was changed from the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company to that which it now bears. Since then the business has greatly increased, and it now boasts of having more steamers than any company trading to the East. Its fleet consists of 106 vessels with a total tonnage of about 270,000. They are nearly all called by Eastern names, such as the Golconda, 6,036 tons; Matiana, 5,000 tons; Okhla, 5,283 tons; Onda, 5,272 tons, and Obra, 5,456 tons. The distance annually travelled by ships of this line counts up to 5,000,000 miles. The sailings are about fortnightly from London to Colombo, Madras and Calcutta. The fares to Madras and Calcutta are from £47 10s. to £52 10s., according to accommodation. The first steamers of the line—the Cape of Good Hope and the Baltic—were despatched to India via the Cape. The India of this line is said to have been the first steamer to pass through the Suez Canal. In 1872 a contract was entered into with the East India Company for a monthly service from Aden to Zanzibar. Then a coast line was established from Bombay to Calcutta, calling at eighteen intermediate ports, with a branch line running up the Persian Gulf. In 1880 arrangements were made with the Government of Queensland for a mail service that soon developed into a large trade. At the breaking out of the mutiny in 1857, a detachment of the 35th Regiment was brought up from Ceylon to Calcutta by one of the ships of this line most opportunely. Again, in 1863, thirteen steamers of this fleet were taken up by the Government in connection with the Abyssinian expedition.
Some years ago the Quetta, of this line, on her voyage from Queensland, struck a rock in Torres Straits and sank in a few minutes with the loss of 133 lives. Among the survivors was a plucky young lady, a Miss Lacy, who, after having spent twelve hours upon a raft, attempted to swim ashore, and kept afloat in the water for twenty-four hours without a life-belt or support of any kind, until she was picked up by a boat from a passing steamer.
THE “QUETTA” GOING UNDER, 1890.
The Clan Line, established in 1878, has a fleet of some thirty-five ships, all rejoicing in the prefix of “Clan” to their names. They are comparatively small vessels, the largest of them being the Clan Grant, 3,545 tons; Clan MacArthur, 3,934; Clan MacIntosh, 3,985; Clan MacPherson, 3,921, and Clan Matheson, 3,917 tons. They run from Glasgow and Liverpool to Bombay; from the same ports to Colombo, Madras and Calcutta; also to Cape Colony and Natal, Delagoa Bay, Beira and Mauritius. The saloon fare by this line from Liverpool to Madras or Calcutta is £45; second class, £30.
The Bibby Line has long been famous on the Mediterranean. It is now the direct route to Burmah, and controls a large share of the trade with Ceylon and southern India. It employs five of Harland & Wolff’s first-class steamships—the Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire, twin screw ships of 6,000 tons; and the Lancashire and Yorkshire of 4,260 tons each. This line is the recognized route for officers returning from India at the expiry of furlough. The sailings are from Liverpool to Egypt, Colombo, southern India and Rangoon. Only first-class passengers are carried. Fare to Rangoon, £50.
The Shaw, Savill & Albion Company, formed some thirteen years ago, has been very successful. It has five fast mail steamers—the Arawa, 5,026 tons; Doric, 4,786; Ionic, 4,753; Tainui, 5,031, and the Gothic, 7,730. Besides these they have a large number of cargo steamers and sailing ships. The Gothic is said to be the largest steamship employed in the Australian trade, and the Arawa the fastest, having made the run from Plymouth to New Zealand in 38 days, 30 minutes; and from New Zealand to Plymouth in 35 days, 3 hours, 40 minutes—the fastest on record.
The Union Steamship Company of New Zealand advertises to take passengers from Auckland to England, via San Francisco, in thirty-one days! Saloon fare, £66; steerage, £32 11s. 7d.
The Anchor Line has two services to India: (1) from Liverpool to Bombay and Kurrachee; (2) from Liverpool to Calcutta. The sailings in each case are about once a fortnight. Though chiefly adapted for freight, they carry a considerable number of passengers at low rates, say, to Bombay or Calcutta, first-class, £45, and second-class, £30. The City Line has also two distinct services, the same as the Anchor Line, to Bombay and Kurrachee and to Calcutta. The fares are the same. This line has a fleet of fourteen steamers, among the largest of which are the City of Bombay, 4,548 tons; City of Vienna, 4,672 tons; City of Oxford, 4,019 tons; City of Calcutta, 3,906 tons.
The Hall Line, from Liverpool to Kurrachee and to Bombay, calling at Marseilles, sails about once in three weeks. The ships are all about four thousand tons. The fare from Liverpool to Bombay is, for first-class, £47 10s., and for second-class, £30. The Henderson Line has sailings from Liverpool to Rangoon every three weeks, with accommodation for second-class passengers. The New Zealand Shipping Company has a fine fleet of steamers, from four thousand to six thousand tons, sailing once in three weeks from London to New Zealand ports, Tasmania and Australia. Fare to Auckland, £68, and to Melbourne or Sydney, £72. The North German Lloyd Line has a monthly service from Southampton to China and Japan, and also to Australia. Holt’s Line has sailings once a fortnight to China, Japan and Australia from Liverpool.
There are various other lines of steamers in the Eastern trade, but the above-named are the most important, unless we include the Messageries Maritime and the Rubattino Lines, both of which are formidable competitors for the freight and passenger traffic. The former is a French line, which has been in existence since 1852, and has attained a high rank. The fleet numbers about sixty vessels, many of them very large, handsomely fitted and fast. They are noted for their elaborate cuisine, which attracts a certain class of travellers, and though their rates are somewhat higher than the other first-class lines, they have long been very popular. The line to India has sailings from Marseilles and Trieste once a fortnight. The Messageries Company receives a very large subsidy from the French Government. The Ville de la Ciotat, built for the Australian trade, is a magnificent ship of 6,500 tons and 7,000 horse-power. The Rubattino is an Italian line, which has a numerous fleet of steamers, chiefly adapted for the Mediterranean trade; but they have also a number of large vessels sailing at regular intervals from Genoa and Naples to Bombay.
The Eastern trade is enormous. The total exports from and to India, Ceylon, the Straits, Labuan and Hong Kong amounted in 1889 to $1,031,000,000. The exports and imports to and from Australia amounted in the same year to nearly $526,000,000.[28] The net tonnage which passed through the Suez Canal in 1894 was 8,039,105 tons.