FOOTNOTES:
[360] Besides the Bavarian, Messrs. Leyland employ in this trade the Bohemian and Bulgarian, similar in all respects, each of which is 400 feet in length, 37 feet wide, and 28 feet in depth, with engines of 350 nominal horse-power. They have also in the same trade other three sister ships, the Iberian, Illyrian, and Istrian, each 2890 tons gross register and carrying 4400 tons of cargo, dimensions 390 ⨉ 37 ⨉ 29.
[361] The whole steam tonnage of France amounted in 1873 to 185,165 tons net register.
[362] The Greeks, strange to say, considering their shrewdness and keen business habits, stopped the coasting trade of foreigners, thereby doing incalculable injury to their own commerce, not having capital themselves to supply the deficiency or perform adequately the service.
[363] My readers will perceive that this company apparently owns within 10,000 tons of the whole of the steam-shipping of France, but this arises from the gross tonnage being given in the former returns, and only the net registered tons in the latter. Nevertheless, the Messageries Maritimes is now the largest steam-ship company in the world. A list of the steamers of this company, and how employed, will be found in the [Appendix No. 24, p. 641].
[364] The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company for a service of 1,171,092 miles, receives 430,000l., while the Messageries Maritimes is paid at present (June 1875) 399,838l. for a service of 631,514 miles.
[365] An amusing incident occurred at this time to myself not altogether unworthy of notice. When the discussions were going on about the irregularity of the sailing-ship mails, the late Mr. James Wilson, then Secretary to the Treasury, one day asked me how these irregularities could best be remedied. “Oh,” I said, half in joke and half in earnest, “adopt the horse-shoe nail mode of levying your penalties: inflict, as you do now, 20l. for the first day’s delay, but increase it to 40l. for the second, 80l. for the third, 160l. for the fourth, 320l. for the fifth, 640l. for the sixth, and no pay at all for the conveyance of the mails if the ships are seven days beyond the time stipulated in their contract, and you will be no longer troubled with tenders professing to deliver your letters in less time than the passage, under ordinary circumstances, can be accomplished.”
A scheme of penalties, somewhat after this fashion, was immediately afterwards adopted; but I had unwittingly prepared a stick to break my own back. The second contract for the Cape and India mails, to which I have referred in the text, was one of the earliest to which this new principle was applied, and I could not of course object to the stringency of this new fashioned penalty clause, as it was of my own creation. Nor did the Government hesitate to put it in force when my ships were behind time, as also in the case of the unfortunate European and Australian Steam Navigation Company. But though the new principle promptly and effectually put a stop to all tenders of the class of which Mr. Wilson complained, it was much too rigorous to be continued and was abolished.
[366] Mr. Alfred Holt is the third son of my old friend, the late Mr. George Holt of Liverpool. He is an engineer by profession, having served his apprenticeship to Mr. Edward Woods, the engineer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Afterwards, he became the inspecting engineer of my steamers and of those of others; and when he himself, in time, became the owner of steam-ships, in partnership with his brother, Mr. Philip H. Holt, he showed what knowledge, practically gained, could achieve, and, thoroughly beating his old employers by the production of the vessels to which I refer, he now ranks high, and deservedly high, among the great shipowners of his native town. Though he has no claim to be considered the inventor of the compound engine, for that is almost as old, in one form or another, as the present century; he was the first to apply the principle on long oversea voyages. The ships of the Pacific Company had, it is true, that description of engine in use before him, but only in those of their ships engaged in the coasting trade of the Pacific. Mr. Holt’s steamers were consequently the first to show the advantages to be derived from the compound principle on such voyages as those from England to Mauritius, a distance of 8500 miles without stopping, then a marvellous performance; and it was, only, from the time he thus practically demonstrated the great value of such engines, that they have been generally adopted.
[367] The Achilles left Foochow, July 16th, 1869, and arrived at London round the Cape of Good Hope, September 16th, having been fifty-eight days nine hours under steam—13,552 miles.
[368] Their dimensions are as follows: 309 feet in length, 38½ feet beam, and 28½ depth of hold to upper or spar deck.
[369] Freight for ordinary packages of measurement goods:
To Suez, Penang, and Singapore, 50s. per ton, with 5 per cent. primage.
To Hong Kong and Shanghai, 50s. per ton, with 5 per cent. primage.
Through bills of lading are signed for—
Yokohama, Foo-choo-Foo, and Amoy, @ 90s.
Manilla, 90s., Batavia, 80s., Samarang, 84s., Sourabaya, 85s., Padang and Macassar, 92s., Chinkiang, 77s. 6d., Kiukiang, 80s., Hankow, 85s., Nagasaki, 75s., and Hiogo, 80s. per ton.
All without primage. No bill of lading signed for less than 2l. 2s.
Freight payable on delivery of bills of lading.
[370] The Agamemnon left Hankow, 604 miles above Shanghai, on May 25th, 1873, and arrived (by way of the Suez Canal and Gibraltar) at London, July 12th. The mails, which left Shanghai June 1st, arrived in London viâ Brindisi, July 21st, and the passage of the Agamemnon is not an exceptional one.
[371] The Queen Margaret, 3138 tons register, belonging to the Queen Steam Shipping Company (Limited), has just (Sept. 1875) made the passage from London to Calcutta under 30 days, including 40 hours’ detention in the Suez Canal (or, 28 days and 8 hours), which, as yet, is, I believe, the fastest passage on record.
[372] The dimensions of this vessel are 350 feet in length, 37 feet in breadth, and 27 feet 5 inches extreme depth of hold. She has three decks, her engines are 300 nominal horse-power, and her crew consists of fifty persons all told.
[373] All the ships of Messrs. George Smith and Sons are named after different cities.
Calcutta.
We despatched to Calcutta viâ the Cape of Good Hope, in 1871, twenty-four sailing ships:
| Shortest passage out | 79 days. |
| Shortest passage home | 93 days. |
| Shortest round voyage, Pilot to Pilot | 6 months and 9 days. |
| Average passage out | 95 days. |
| Average passage home | 108 days. |
Five of the voyages were completed under seven months. A few of these vessels loaded out from London. The others were all from the Clyde.
Bombay.
We despatched to Bombay, in 1871, sixteen sailing-ships completing the same number of voyages:
| Shortest passage out | 83 days. |
| Shortest passage home | 95 days. |
| Average passage out | 106 days. |
| Average passage home | 117 days. |
| Shortest voyage | 7 months and 18 days. |
[375] See [vol. ii.] p. 493.
[376] The dimensions of this ship are 325 feet in length, 37 feet beam, and 27½ feet extreme depth. The cylinders of her engines (compound) are 39 and 68 inches respectively in diameter and the length of stroke 42 inches.
[377] I may here state that the bulkiest articles of Indian produce, consisting as they do of cotton, jute, rice, sugar, saltpetre, cutch, and such like, as also woods of various kinds, cannot, as a rule, afford to pay the rates necessary to remunerate a steam-ship for their conveyance; hence, such articles will most likely continue to be sent to Europe by the Cape route, except when in special demand. That such will most probably continue to be the case is apparent from the fact that, though, during the last two years, the competition between the steamers passing through the Suez Canal has been so great as to reduce their rates of freight almost to a level with those paid to sailing-vessels, the latter still continue to secure full cargoes. This may, in some measure, be accounted for by many, indeed, the bulk of those cargoes being sold “to arrive:” hence, merchants frequently prefer sailing-vessels, especially for the shipment of jute, rice, and other articles of comparatively low value, as thus they have a longer time at their disposal, and thus frequently avoid the expense of warehousing, to which, in the case of goods by steamers, they are often obliged to resort, from the short time allowed in all contracts, for the discharge of such vessels.
[378] [Appendix No. 25, p. 643].
[379] In calling attention to the results of the construction of the Suez Canal, the Friend of India says:—“No more striking illustration could be adduced of the revolution effected by the Suez Canal than that suggested by a comparison of the shipping advertisements of to-day with those of twenty years ago. Then we hardly ever heard of steamers in these regions, except in connection with the stately proceedings and crushing fares of the Peninsular and Oriental Company. Then, it was a splendid run to get home in one of Green or Smith’s clippers in ninety days. Now, an ordinary cargo steamer, carrying a few passengers, lands us comfortably at Liverpool on the thirtieth day. First we have the time-honoured Peninsular and Oriental Company, next the Messageries Maritimes de France, then the Italian Steam Navigation Company. Not inferior to the last-mentioned is the Austro-Hungarian Lloyd’s Steam Navigation Company, then comes the Anchor line, followed by the Wilson line, the Star line, &c. Besides the regular steamers of these and similar ‘lines,’ we have our choice of a large and constantly increasing number of private vessels—less regular, perhaps, in their departures and arrivals, but many of them not a whit inferior in size, accommodation, speed, and careful management. Another note-worthy feature in these noble steam fleets is the nature of the vessels generally composing them. It will be found that nearly the whole of the steamers are new, many of them having been built expressly for the Indian passenger trade; and all are superbly fitted out with every convenience and luxury. Twenty years ago, a vessel of 1500 tons ranked as the largest of our Indian sailing-vessels. Now, 3000 tons is a very common figure to see appended to the name of a passenger steamer, and 4000 tons not uncommon, while some are considerably above that tonnage. In point of speed, several steam vessels owned by new companies are equal, if not superior, to the Peninsular and Oriental. Recently we read of a steamer leaving Suez two days after the Peninsular and Oriental, and arriving at Bombay one day earlier. The lowering of fares is another item worthy of consideration. A first-class passage can now be obtained, exclusive of beer and wine, for 450 rupees. The result of all this is a greatly increased and rapidly increasing flight to England from India; and an annual accession of visitors and tourists from England, the Continent, and America, to India. Even our hill stations are losing their summer visitors—drained off by the absorbing Suez Canal. And many parents, who formerly sent their children to hill schools, are now taking advantage of cheap passages to give them the benefit of home education. As fares are reduced still more this homeward tendency will further increase. Why should not 30l. pay as well for thirty days without beer and wines as 60l. used to pay for ninety days with beer and wines? We believe that first-class passages will eventually be procurable for 30l., and that now is the time for shipping companies to look the future in the face.”