CHAPTER XIV.

ITALY—THE EASTERN MAILS—SICILY.

Arrived in Italy, either by the Mont Cenis Railway, or by that through the Tunnel of the Alps, we have in front of us a Peninsula which juts for an extent (taking Susa as the extreme northern point and Otranto as the extreme southern) of 765 miles into the ocean. On the east, the ocean is called the Adriatic; on the south as well as on the west, the Mediterranean, a sea that contains within its limits a surface of 579,000 square miles.

We have already described the mighty railway company, Alta Italia, 2,565 miles in length, of which, since the close of the war of 1866, 1,349 belong to the South Austrian Division, and 1,216 to that of Alta Italia proper. If we are on our road to Brindisi, we arrive at the end of Alta Italia at Bologna, and, at that station come upon Ferrovia Meridionale. From Bologna, the line, proceeding southwards but also verging towards the eastward, gets to the Adriatic at Rimini, and thence, hugging the shore, it touches at Ancona, distant 127 miles from Bologna. From Ancona it still follows the shore of the Adriatic, except that at the Spur of the Boot it passes inwards through Foggia, 331 miles from Bologna. It is at this point that the line which is to unite Naples by the shortest possible railway connection, with the Adriatic, branches off. Its total length will be 124 miles; 43 are now open for traffic, 68 will be finished in the summer of 1868, leaving only a blank of 12 miles to be continued. Unfortunately, however, on these 12 miles, situated in the very heart of the Apennines, are concentrated the greatest works of the railway—three tunnels, one of which will be 2 miles and 17 yards long, and when completed will be the longest railway tunnel in Italy; the two others will be of the united length of 2 miles and 890 yards.

Reverting to Foggia, the main line, proceeding southerly and easterly for 145 miles, reaches Brindisi, 470 miles from Bologna, 711 from Susa, 1,180 from Paris, and 1,477 from London.

Captain Tyler, in his interesting Report of 1866, reviews the relative capabilities of the several harbours of Italy for the receipt and despatch of our Eastern mails, and without hesitation, names Brindisi as the one that should be selected. The harbour is composed of an outer port of about 1¼ mile long by about half that distance at its greatest width. It is connected by a channel 290 yards, or the sixth of a mile, with two inner harbours or arms, the western of which is to be the Packet Harbour. The Italian Government have important works going on at Brindisi, and their objects are the security of the outer port, the deepening of the channel, and the facing of the channel that connects the outer and inner ports, as well as the sides of the latter, with solid masonry. During 1865 and 1866, 1,800,000 cubic feet of excavation were accomplished and very considerable progress has been made with the masonry, but at the present moment the works rather flag. It is stated, however, by the Government authorities, that as soon as it is decided that the British Contract Steamers carrying the Eastern mails to and from Alexandria, shall make Brindisi their port, the works will be resumed with great vigour. The present depth of the channel is 19½ feet, but this depth is to be increased to 26 feet at low water, not only at the channel, but at the passenger jetty (to which the railway will be extended), and alongside the coal depôt. This depth would be sufficient for the largest steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental, or of any other company, and with the view to affording suitable accommodation for large ships in case of need, it has been decided to construct immediately a dry dock, 380 feet long, at an estimated cost of £100,000. At the entrance of the outer port, and for a quarter of a mile within it, the depth of water will be from 28 to 37 feet. The rise and fall of tide at Brindisi is not more than 1½ foot. A plan of the harbour is appended.

Whilst at Brindisi, it is impossible to omit reference to its future with respect to the conveyance of our Eastern mails to and from Alexandria. This subject is divisible into two portions—conveyance of the fast and conveyance of the heavy mails. These mails go at present respectively viâ Marseilles and viâ Southampton. A contract now in course of completion between the Post Office and the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company is about to bind the nation to the Southampton route for twelve years. It admits, however, of the transfer of the fast mails viâ Marseilles being likely to take place at a period more or less proximate. If the reader will be so good as to refer to Appendix No. 3 in this volume, he will see a memorandum in which the course of the Eastern mails, both fast and heavy, is indicated, and the vast difference between the time that letters take in their conveyance by the two routes—that is, viâ Southampton and viâ Marseilles. This difference will continue until all mails, both fast and heavy, are carried (as eventually they will be) by Brindisi.

The following table exhibits the relative distances between London and Alexandria by the three routes. The computation is in English miles.

Viâ.Land.Water.Total.
Southampton783,3533,431
Marseilles8331,7012,534
Brindisi1,4779542,431