(To be read before a Map of the World)
SOUTHAMPTON, which is the station of most of the great ocean mails, is a quaint old English sea-port at the head of Southampton Water in Hants. Two passages lead from Southampton Water to the English Channel-the Solent and the Spithead; and between them lies the Isle of Wight. A northern branch of the Spithead is Portsmouth Harbour, the principal station of the English Navy.
The great ocean routes which have their starting-point at Southampton are-the Mediterranean, the West Indian, the Cape, East Indian, Australian, and China routes.
The principal vessels that follow the Mediterranean route are those in connection with the overland route to India. But by this route also communication is kept up with the whole of the Mediterranean coasts, and an extensive trade-chiefly in corn-is carried on between the Black Sea and the principal British ports.
The Cape and East Indian mail steamer, on leaving Southampton, makes direct for St. Vincent, one of the Cape Verd Islands, where there is a commodious harbour, a free port, and a coaling station. These islands are situated 320 miles west of Cape Verd, on the coast of Africa, They form a Portuguese possession. Cotton cloth and salt are their most valuable exports.
The next station on the Cape route is Ascension Island, 1800 miles south-east of St. Vincent. This small island, which is 8 miles long, by 6 broad at its western end, has belonged to England since 1815. At George Town, on its north-western coast, there is a fort with military quarters, surrounded by afew detached residences; and opposite the town there is an open roadstead. It is a convenient victualling station for the African squadron of the English Navy.
Eight hundred miles south-east of Ascension, the steamer reaches the interesting island of St. Helena, the scene of the captivity and death of Napoleon Buonaparte. The chief settlement in the island is James Town, on the north-western shore. The interior is an elevated table-land, 1500 feet above the sea-level. Near the centre of this plateau is Longwood, the residence of Napoleon from 1815 till 1821. He was buried on the island; but in 1840 his remains were removed to Paris. Indian steamers do not often call at St. Helena on the outward voyage, but it is a usual station in the homeward track.
After St. Helena, the steamer next stops at Cape Town; so called from the Cape of Good Hope, in the neighbourhood of which it stands. Cape of Good Hope Province, of which Cape Town is the capital, became a British possession in 1814. Prior to that time it belonged to Holland; and the town bears evident traces of its Dutch origin. It has canals in the principal streets; the houses are flat-roofed and painted or whitewashed, with terraces and gardens in front. It is situated on the south- western shore of Table Bay, under the shadow of Table Mount.
From Cape Town the steamer proceeds to Mauritius, a considerable island (36 miles long by 20 broad) in the Indian Ocean. The Dutch called the island Mauritius, after Prince Maurice, their Stadtholder, when they settled there in 1598. Abandoned by the Dutch in 1715, the French took possession of it, and called it the Isle of France. In 1810 it was taken by the British, and its possession was confirmed to them in 1814; but the companion island of Bourbon, which had been taken at the same time, was restored to the French. Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, is a place of growing prosperity. It has over 50,000 inhabitants, and it is now in direct communication, not only with India, but with Aden and Australia.
The next station on the direct route is Point de Galle, a seaport at the southern extremity of the island of Ceylon. Here the Cape and Overland routes meet, as the steamers from Aden and Bombay also touch at Point de Galle. This port forms a kind of mail depot for the whole of the East, as branch mails proceed thence to Madras, Calcutta, Penang, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong-Kong.
Ships returning to England from Australia generally preferthe Pacific and Cape Horn route to that by the Cape of Good Hope and the Atlantic. By this means vessels are able, both in going and returning, to take advantage of the westerly winds and currents which prevail in the neighbourhood of both of these stormy Capes.
After doubling Cape Horn, the homeward-bound ship makes for the Falkland Islands, which form a convenient British outpost in the southern seas. This group, consisting of two large and a host of small islands, is situated about 300 miles from the coast of Patagonia. The western of the two large islands is 90 miles, the eastern is 100 miles in length. Their population is sparse; but vegetation is luxuriant, and cattle abundant. Vessels frequenting these seas call at the Falkland Islands to procure provisions and fresh water. The direct route from the Falkland Islands to Southampton is by the Cape Verd Islands, where the homeward and outwardroutes meet. A vessel that has sailed from St. Vincent to Melbourne by the Cape of Good Hope, and has returned to St. Vincent by Cape Horn, has obviously sailed round the world.
The West Indian mail is carried direct from Southampton to St. Thomas, a small island belonging to Denmark, in the group called the Virgin Islands. The capital of St. Thomas is a free port, and one of the best trading places in the West Indies. It is built in the form of an amphitheatre around a spacious bay; hence its selection as a great mail station, and as the chief magazine and market for West Indian produce.