Tables showing the Gain of U. S. and European Ports.
| PORTS | BY CAPE HORN. | BY SUEZ CANAL. | SAVING EFFECTED BY CANAL. |
|---|---|---|---|
| MILES. | MILES. | MILES. | |
| Constantinople | 14,760 | 4,350 | 10,410 |
| Malta | 14,130 | 4,990 | 9,140 |
| Trieste | 14,420 | 5,660 | 8,760 |
| Marseilles | 13,675 | 5,745 | 7,930 |
| Cadiz | 12,584 | 5,384 | 7,200 |
| Lisbon | 12,960 | 6,050 | 6,910 |
| Bordeaux | 13,670 | 6,770 | 6,900 |
| Havre | 14,030 | 6,830 | 7,200 |
| London | 14,400 | 7,500 | 6,900 |
| Liverpool | 14,280 | 7,380 | 6,900 |
| Amsterdam | 14,400 | 7,500 | 6,900 |
| St. Petersburg | 15,850 | 8,950 | 6,900 |
| New York | 15,000 | 9,100 | 5,900 |
| New Orleans | 15,600 | 9,000 | 6,600 |
The subjoined table contains distances from London, New York, and Port Royal to certain Eastern ports, compared with distances to the same ports from New York via the Pacific Railroad and Darien:
| ORIENTAL PORTS | LONDON, VIA SUEZ. | NEW YORK, VIA SUEZ. | PORT ROYAL, VIA SUEZ. | NEW YORK, VIA PAC. R. R. | NEW YORK, VIA DARIEN. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MILES. | MILES. | MILES. | MILES. | MILES. | |
| Melbourne | 11,280 | 13,200 | 13,700 | 10,300 | 10,400 |
| Shanghai | 11,504 | 12,500 | 13,000 | 8,850 | 11,100 |
| Hong Kong | 10,469 | 11,700 | 11,100 | 9,300 | 10,850 |
| Manila | 9,639 | 11,600 | 12,200 | 9,600 | 11,500 |
| Singapore | 8,239 | 10,300 | 10,800 | 10,600 | 12,800[4] |
| Batavia | 10,500 | 11,000 | 11,000 | 12,550 | |
| Penang | 7,859 | 9,950 | 10,430 | 11,000 | 12,800 |
| Calcutta | 7,964 | 9,700 | 12,200 | 12,150 | 14,350 |
| Ceylon | 7,946 | 8,750 | 9,250 | 12,200 | 14,300 |
| Yeddo | 10,200 | ||||
| Bombay | 9,000 | ||||
| Yokohama | 11,504 | ||||
According to the first table, distances from the European and American ports therein named are shortened one-half. According to the second table, the distances to Oriental ports, from the great European and American entrepôts, are greater by the Darien route; but by reason of winds and currents, the voyage by the way of Suez is from four to five days longer.
In the Red Sea the prevailing winds are from the north, which retard the steamers and compel the sailing ships to beat up to Suez. “From Suez to Ceylon,” according to the London Times, “the winds are unfavorable. From Point de Galle to Swan River, terrible hurricanes sweep the Indian Ocean. Along the coast of New South Wales, violent winds prevail from the westward, causing a prodigious sea to arise, which nearly precludes navigation in that direction.”
The route by way of Good Hope is beset by gales from the south-west and north-west, rendering the return passage a matter of great uncertainty; but by Darien or Panama route, going or returning, regular voyages and smooth seas may be counted on with precision.
For steam, but more especially for sailing vessels, the American route, lying in the zone of the trade-winds, possesses special advantages. Outgoing and returning ships may trim their sails to favorable winds; and the experienced navigator may have the aid of confluent currents, and enter the monsoons at greater advantage.
Napoleon III, when a prisoner in Ham, thoroughly examined the advantages of the American route. “In regard to the United States of America,” he observes, “all the distances would be shortened 1400 miles and fifteen days”——“Europe would gain forty-seven days in a voyage to the coast of South America, while the United States would gain sixty-two days. To China and Sidney, Europe would gain twenty-nine days, and the United States twenty-four days.”
But it is not as rivals that the two routes should be compared, but as parts of the same system by which maritime nations are brought into commercial union. The benefit which each route will confer upon commerce is doubled by considering the effects of both together. The one opens the gates to the East, the other to the West. While one route is favorable to outward ships, the other affords equal advantages to the homeward bound, so that in many cases the most desirable route would lead to a circumnavigation of the globe.