Christmas Isle to Canton.
| Geo. Miles. | Days | ||
| Christmas Isle to Canton | 5, | 250 | 26 |
| Stop at Canton | " | 3 | |
| Canton to Christmas Isle, by Owhyhee route | 6, | 900 | 46 |
| ——— | —— | ||
| Totals | 12, | 150 | 75 |
| ——— | —— | ||
Eight packets would perform this work, giving two mails each month: cost 76,000l.; yearly charges, 33,600l.; which shows that it takes one packet more by this arrangement than would be required by the other.
Keeping the stations altogether separate, the following would be the periods and number of packets required, premising that the packets would return to the point of departure on the west coast of America, nearly in the dotted lines which are laid down on the accompanying Chart:—
Rialejo to Canton.
| Geo. Miles. | Days | ||
| Rialejo to Owhyhee | 4, | 100 | 22 |
| Owhyhee to Canton | 5, | 200 | 27 |
| Stop at Canton | " | 2 | |
| Canton to Rialejo (circuitous) | 10, | 000 | 59 |
| ——— | —— | ||
| Totals | 19, | 300 | 110 |
| ——— | —— | ||
Eight packets would perform this work, giving two mails each month; first cost, 76,000l.; yearly charges, 33,600l.
Rialejo to Sydney, New South Wales.
| Geo. Miles. | Days | ||
| Rialejo to Otaheite | 4, | 100 | 22 |
| Otaheite to Sydney | 3, | 400 | 19 |
| Stop at Sydney | " | 3 | |
| Sydney to Rialejo, by N. Point, New Zealand | 8, | 500 | 51 |
| ——— | —— | ||
| Totals | 16, | 000 | 95 |
| ——— | —— | ||
Examining attentively the three preceding routes of communication, it is plain that, in point of expense, the last, namely, that which gives two establishments, is not more than the most eligible of the other two, while in point of time it is considerably the quickest. The packets going out and returning twice each month, or every fifteen days, it follows that, on every route, their voyages divide into periods of that duration. In the more distant, such as the routes at present under consideration, their voyages, in order to coincide and to meet with the return mails at any given point, will run, say, 90 days, 105 days, 120 days, &c.; and within the latter-mentioned number the mail from Canton must return to Jamaica, to secure, without extra loss of time, a packet bound to England.