16 ANNUAL OF SClENTll-IC DISCOVERT. 



San Francisco, as the Australian and 'New Zealand SteamshijD 

 Company intend translciiing the terminus of their line, which 

 has been runniui]: IVom Svdnev to Panama, so as hereafter to run 

 from Australia to Tahiti, thence to Honolulu, and thence to San 

 Francisco, makin*; 28 dafs, schedule time, Avhiih will give us 

 monthly mail to Australia in o4r or 3j days through time. 



THE RAILWAYS OF INDIA. 



A great deal has been said and written respecting the complp- 

 tion of the Pacilic Railway across the American continent; and 

 much ])raise has been very justl}'^ bestowed uj)on the energy of 

 the American character which has brought the work to its present 

 position. While, however, we are lavish in our expressions of 

 admiration for the great qualities which have thus been called 

 into existence, W'e ought not to lose sight of the still greater 

 works which have been accomplished in India, in the matter of 

 railways. A vast work has been carried on silently and unobtru- 

 sively, and under difli''ullies even greater than any which have 

 been experienced in regard to the Pu'iiic llaih-oad, and we claim 

 for those by whom these great works have been achieved some 

 share of that admiration which is given so freely and so fairly '.o 

 our American cousins. The Pacilic line, including as it does the 

 two separate schemes of the Union Pacilic and the Central Pacific, 

 is about ],700 miles in length. Two of our leading Indian lines, 

 namely. The East Indian and the Great Indian Peninsula, at pres- 

 ent in work, have a joint mileage of 2,2:10 nVdes, and when 

 completed it will be 2,7G8 miles, greater by more than one-half 

 of the whole length of the Pacific road. Like the Pacitii; the. e 

 lines cross our Indian empire from east to west, and connect 

 Bombay and Calcutta, just as the Pacific forms the connectmg 

 link between San Francisco and New York. By means of 

 the East Indian a railway connects Calcutta with Delhi, 

 more than 1,0U0 miles distant from each other; in the sou'h, 

 Madras and Baypore are connected by a line crossing Southern 

 India; Nagpore, in Central India, is connected with the port of 

 Bombay by means of the flotilla and Punjaub line ; Laliore in 'he 

 north-west and Kurrachee in the Indus are brought into diiect 

 connection with each other. There are now actually completed 

 and at work in India, 3,942 miles of railway, or about GOO more 

 than the whole mileage between New York ami San Francisco, 

 and there remain to be completed of lines already sanctioned 

 1,GU5 miles. This great extent of railway has been constructed 

 in a country many thousands of miles distant from England, 

 where, with a trilling exception, the whole of the; capital was 

 provided. For the construction of these works th«,'re was re- 

 quired to be shipped from this country 3,529,000 tons of goods, of 

 the value of 2:^,2.'j2,000 pounds, and which was conveyed in 5,339 

 ships. In America no such difliculty as this was experienced. 

 The road, as it was formed, was enabled to carry the iron and 

 timber required for the construction. The contractors worked 



