Viii HQTRODUCTION. 



masters, and such a chart was constructed for them. They took 

 it to sea, they tried it, and to their surprise and delight they found 

 that, with the knowledge it afforded, the remote corners of the 

 earth were brought closer together, in some instances, by many 

 days' sail. The passage hence to the equator alone was shortened 

 ten days. Before the commencement of ,this undertaking, the 

 average passage to California was 183 days ; but with these charts 

 for their guide, navigators have reduced that average, and brought 

 it down to 135 days. 



Between England and Australia, the average time going, with- 

 out these charts, is ascertained to be 124 days, and coming, about 

 the same ; making the round voyage one of about 250 days on 

 the average. 



These charts, and the system of research to which they have 

 given rise, bid fair to bring that colony and the mother country 

 nearer by many days, reducing, in no small measure, the average 

 duration of the round voyage.* 



At the meeting of the British Association of 1853, it was stated 

 by a distinguished member — and the statement was again repeat- 

 ed at its meeting in 1854 — that in Bombay, whence he came, it 

 was estimated that this system of research, if extended to the In- 

 dian Ocean, and embodied in a set of charts for that sea, such as 

 I have been describing, would produce an annual saving to Brit- 

 ish commerce, in those waters alone, of one or two millions of dol- 

 lars ;f and in all seas, of ten millions.:t 



* The outward passage, k has since been ascertained, has been reduced to 97 

 days on the average, and the homeward passage has been made in 63. 



f See Inaugural Address of the Earl of Harrowby, President of the British Asso- 

 ciation at its twenty-fourth meeting. Liverpool, 1854. 



J *. . . "Now let us make a calculation of the annual saving to the commerce of 

 the United States effected by those charts and sailing directions. According to Mr. 

 Maury, the average freight from the United States to Rio Janeiro is 17.7 cts.per ton 

 per day ; to Australia, 20 cts. ; to California, also, about 20 cts. The mean of this 

 is a little over 19 cts. per ton per day; but to be within the mark, we will take it at 

 15, and include all the ports of South America, China, and the East Indies. 



"The sailing directions have shortened the passages to California 30 days, to Aus- 

 tralia 20, to Rio Janeiro 10. The mean of this is 20, but we will take it at 15, and 

 also include the above-named ports of South America, China, and the East Indies. 



" We estimate the tonnage of the United States engaged in trade with these places 

 at 1,000,000 tons per annum. 



"With these data, we see that there has been effected a saving for each one of 

 these tons of 15 cents per day for a period of 15 days, which will give an aggregate 



