1897, 2986 ships, of a tonnage of 7,899,373. In 1875, 84,446 passengers travelled by the canal; in 1897, 191,215. Though the ships of all nations are to be seen here, British vessels vastly predominate, contributing an average of 76 per cent. of the tolls. One-seventh of our foreign commerce goes over this

route.

Within living memory the only route to the Far East was that which went eastwards, the alternative being_the_western voyage round the Horn-a terror to sailing craft. But now there is choice of two western routes across the North American continent, and these absorb a large and increasing volume of trade. Two of the greatest and youngest of the mammoth American railways have become linked with the Orient by fleets of steamers. One of these railways is the Canadian Pacific, which stretches for 2900 miles across the continent from Halifax to Vancouver. The Canadian Pacific owns the three vessels of the Empress line, which cross every three weeks between Vancouver and the ports of China and Japan, carrying those mails of the British Government that go to the East through Canada. By the Empress line one may travel the 10,038 miles which separate Hong Kong from Liverpool with but two changes. There is choice of a dozen lines of steamers across the Atlantic, by which the traveller can land at New York or at Canadian ports. About eight days will cover the 2832 miles from Liverpool to Montreal, and five days the 2906 miles of Canadian Pacific Railway between Montreal and Vancouver; while fourteen days are required for the 4300 miles of ocean between Vancouver and Yokohama. Thus, twenty-seven days only separate Liverpool from Japan. The second route across North America is by the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific lines, which pass through Utah to San Francisco, whence there is a choice of steamship lines to Asia.

The ocean voyage of 4300 miles between Vancouver and Yokohama crosses the 180th meridian, opposite to Greenwich, about midway in the ocean. 'Antipodes day' marks the highest northward position of the ships in the great curve which they describe from port to port, great-circle sailing being taken in order to shorten the voyage, by passing through the narrower spaces between the meridians as they converge towards the pole. It is a dreamy experience, for nowhere is the loneliness of the ocean more evident than in the vast Pacific. There are no

passing sails; no icebergs break the monotony of the voyage. The only excitement is derived from the chance of a typhoon in August or September, but no storm in the open endangers the big taut ships. Life on these steamers is marked by strong

contrasts with that on the Atlantic vessels. The influence of the Orient is felt. There mingle merchants of the East, old travellers, who are familiar with the route, and who take life leisurely. There are wealthy Chinese and Japanese; dealers in tea, silks, and opium; pearl merchants and teak merchants; planters from Siam and Java and the East Indian Archipelago; missionaries and agents of British commercial houses; and, finally, globe-trotters, in search of health, amusement, or information, whom the much-travelled folk regard with goodhumoured toleration. Chinamen in blue blouses and caps are servants and waiters; they glide to and fro silently at the call of 'boy' or on clapping of the hands, and the luncheon is called 'tiffin.' All this savours of the stationary East, but the West asserts itself on the mechanical side. The electric fan cools the air, the electric light beams, and the highest resources of scientific engineering wait on the safety of the ship and the comfort of the passengers. What is termed 'Asiatic steerage' is a separate class on the Pacific steamers, being retained exclusively for Chinese, Japanese, &c., who indulge in opium smoking it is open to men only. The bones of Chinese who have died in America are often a portion of the cargo carried, and if a Chinaman should die on board, it is stipulated that he shall not be buried at sea, but embalmed and taken to his own land.

The

Australasia can be reached either by eastern or western routes -through Suez, or round the Cape, or across the American continent. Besides the Peninsular and Oriental and other lines already named in connexion with the East there are others whose principal or only business lies in the Antipodes. Among the best-known of these is the great Orient line, which commenced its career in 1877 with the Lusitania. present company was founded in the following year with monthly sailings, changed since 1880 for fortnightly services. The vessels go through Suez, calling at Colombo on their way to Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. The Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company is the offspring of the amalgamation of two firms, whose history dates back about half a century. The Company owns twelve excellently fitted mail steamers, besides sailing vessels. They all make the outward voyage round the Cape of Good Hope, calling at Teneriffe, Cape Town, Hobart, and New Zealand, the time occupied being from forty-three to forty-four days. The homeward journey lies round Cape Horn, call being made at Rio de Janeiro and Teneriffe, and the voyage occupies about forty days. One can therefore sail round the world by this line in a trifle over eighty days. Only sixty

years ago the voyage to New Zealand occupied from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty days; the clippers brought the period down to eighty or ninety days; and this has now been reduced by half.

The New Zealand Shipping Company owns a fleet of fourteen steamers, engaged between New Zealand and London, calling at the Cape on the outward, and at Monte Video on the homeward voyage-thus circumnavigating the globe. In 1882 this company made the experiment of fitting up the sailingship Mataura with refrigerators, and took a large quantity of fish and birds from London to New Zealand, bringing back a cargo of frozen beef and mutton at a freight of 2d. per pound. This was the commencement of the frozen meat trade, previous to which the farmers had reared sheep for the wool chiefly, boiling down the carcases for tallow. The introduction of the frozen meat trade still further developed the exports of wool, and has created a new business in cheese, butter, fruits, &c. The passenger vessels of this line, as well as those of the Orient and the Shaw Savill Companies, are now fitted with refrigerating chambers. Some of the largest steamships of the New Zealand Shipping Company will carry from 60,000 to 70,000 carcases. At present those of the Shaw Savill Company carry an average of over 50,000 carcases each, and their entire fleet brings over more than 1,500,000 carcases of mutton annually.

Mechanical refrigeration is effected by the application of simple principles. It has long been known that the compression of a liquid or a gas developes its latent heat into sensible heat. This, therefore, is what is done, whether the substance be gaseous ammonia, liquid carbonic acid, ether, or air. The heat thus rendered sensible is removed by forcing the compressed substance through condenser pipes, over which cold water is allowed to flow. The next stage occurs in the refrigerating chambers, into which the substance, now deprived of its heat, is introduced and within which it expands. During expansion its lost heat must be replaced by withdrawal from surrounding objects, and as the storage chambers are occupied with provisions, the heat is abstracted from them. The precise degree of cold required is capable of regulation, and different classes of provisions are subjected to different degrees of temperature. After the refrigerating agent used has done its work in the storage chambers, and resumed its normal condition, it is taken back to the compresser, to pass through a renewal of the cycle.

To return from this digression: the other great route to the

Antipodes lies across the North American continent. The Canadian Australian Royal Mail Steamship Company, one of the younger lines, is jointly subsidised by the Governments of Canada and New South Wales. It affords an outlet for the traffic over the immense system of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and gives opportunities for prolonged visits to the islands of the Pacific, on which travellers can land and remain until the returning steamer calls. These vessels also are fitted up for the frozen meat trade. The Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, which is termed the A and A' (American and Australian) line, has through booking from England in connexion with the Union Pacific Railway. This company owns twenty-one vessels, which steam between San Francisco, New Zealand, and Australia, calling at Honolulu, besides local services between New Zealand ports, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Fiji, Tahiti, and other South Sea groups.

From Australasia we pass to Africa. More than four hundred years have passed since Diaz rounded the Cape with his two tiny vessels of 50 tons each, manned with mutinous crews; more than a century has gone by since Great Britain first took possession of Cape Colony. But the Africa of Moffat and of Livingstone, whose voyage to Cape Town in 1840 occupied three months, has been marvellously revolutionised by the great ocean lines which have now brought Southampton and Cape Town within sixteen days of each other, and which are maintained by the growing needs of that important group of colonies.

Of these lines there are many, both British and foreign. The East and West African ports and the islands off the coasts are well served by the African Steamship Company, the Clan line, the Natal line, the German East African, and the French Steam Navigation Company. But the best-known African lines are the Union and the Castle. The Union Steamship Company commenced its career in a humble way in 1853, as a coal-carrying line. The outbreak of the Russian war afforded opportunity for the Union Company to extend its sphere, the five vessels which then comprised their fleet being chartered by the British and French Governments. In 1857 the Company was re-organised, and completed a contract with Her Majesty's Government for a monthly mail service to the Cape. The mail contracts have been renewed from time to time, and the vessels have been frequently employed for the conveyance of troops. The Union line has passed through various vicissitudes, financial and other, in its career, due in the main to the great fluctuations in the fortunes of the South

African colonies. It has now a fleet of nineteen large steamers, one of which, the Briton, 520 feet in length, is the largest vessel that goes to South African waters. Another vessel of this line, the Scot, was the subject of a marvellous piece of engineering. In 1895 she was cut in two amidships by Harland and Wolff, and lengthened by 54 feet: the operation added about one thousand tons to her carrying power, and increased her passenger accommodation. The Union line has a fortnightly mail service to the Cape and Natal; an intermediate service from Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, and Southampton to the South African ports and Delagoa Bay; and a third intermediate from Southampton to South African ports, and as far north as Beira.

The Castle line was formed by Sir Donald Currie in 1872. The mail contract has been shared equally between this line and the Union Company since 1876. When the Castle steamers commenced running, postage to the Cape was one shilling, and the duration of the voyage was more than double what it is now. There are eighteen 'Castles,' and two others in course of construction. Once a month a Castle liner starts for Madagascar and Mauritius. These ships call at Lisbon, Madeira, Las Palmas, St. Helena, Ascension, the Cape ports, Natal, and Delagoa Bay. Connexion is made through the British India Company's steamships with Arabian ports, India, and the Eastern Archipelago; and through the Messageries Maritimes with Australian and other waters.

Among the routes which are frequented less by travellers than by traders are those which go to the West Indies and South America. The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, incorporated sixty years ago, has a fleet of thirty-one vessels, which connect Southampton and the Portuguese ports with Madeira, Canary, the Cape Verd Islands, the West Indies, and South and Central America. The main route lies between Southampton, Cherbourg, and Barbadoes; but the outward and homeward courses are separated by several degrees of latitude. The service is an extensive one, since it collects and distributes the mails from the group of Leeward and Windward Islands, Jamaica, and the northern and eastern ports of South America, as far south as Buenos Ayres. The Company has also a service of steamers in the Pacific, between Panama and San Francisco, which call at many intermediate ports, the isthmus of Panama being crossed by railway.

Ocean transit has now come to embrace the by-ways of travel as well as the great trade routes. Places which half a century since were visited only at long intervals, by a few