42-6 Voyage of the Novara. 



communication between California and New York, has made 

 such excellent arrangements, that the passengers on their arrival 

 in Panama by the train are conveyed in a small steamer from 

 the station, which is close to the shore, out to the large steamer 

 lying in the roads, which is to convey them to California. 

 The entire time occupied in conveying 700 or 800 passengers 

 with their usually rather heavy baggage from Colon across 

 the Isthmus, and thence to their re-embarkation in the 

 steamer upon the West Coast, does not exceed ten hours. 

 The hotel-keepers of Panama, on the other hand, complain 

 sorely of this arrangement, for whereas formerly no passen- 

 ger ever crossed the Isthmus without spending one dollar at 

 least, hundreds now pass through without ever setting a foot 

 in the city. 



When I was in Panama there existed an '' Opposition 

 Line " of steamers, a genuine American institution, of which 

 we have occasional examples in Europe, but which is only to 

 be seen in its full bloom in the United States. Formerly, the 

 fare for a deck-passage from New York to San Francisco Avas 

 160 dollars (£33 lOs.). The '' Opposition Line" lowered the 

 fare to 35 dollars, and as out of this sum 25 dollars had 

 to be paid to the railway, there remained only 10 dol- 

 lars (£2 2s.) for the cost of transport and maintenance of 

 passengers on board large handsome steamers from New 

 York to San Francisco! For the public at large this was 

 undoubtedly a vast benefit, and in consequence of the unex- 

 ampled lowness of fares, an immense number of persons had 



