TELEGRAPH, ELECTRIC. 





cable laid down in the Mediterranean, by way 

 of Malta to Alexandria, failed; but . 

 one, with larger conducting wires, has recently 

 been submerged, and with success ; by this, tele- 

 graphic communication exists to Alexandria, 

 and thence to Suez. From this point a cable 

 Avas to stretch along the bottom of the Red Sea 

 to Aden, thence along the coast of Arabia to 

 Muscat, and thence across the Arabian Sea; 

 but progress beyond Suez was arrested by fail- 

 ure in laying the Red Sea cable. By the other 

 route, Constantinople being in communication 

 with western Europe, a wire is now extended 

 thence through Turkey, by way of Angora, 

 Sivas, Diarbekir, Mosul, Bagdad, Diwanyeh, 

 and Korneh the last at the junction of the 

 Euphrates and Tigris in the Shat-el-Arab and 

 to Bussorah, situated on the river last named, 

 seventy miles above its mouth in the Persian 

 Gulf. From Bussorah a cable is laid by way 

 of the Persian Gulf and across the Arabian Sea 

 to Kurrachee, near the western outlet of the 

 Indus; and thence lines extend to Bombay, 

 Madras, Delhi, Calcutta, and other principal 

 towns of India through the last named reach- 

 ing, as already mentioned, to Rangoon. A long 

 delay in the completion of this line arose through 

 difficulties interposed by- the Turkish authorities 

 to the erection of the wires between Diwanyeh 

 and Korneh, a distance of one hundred and sixty 

 miles. The first despatch was sent through 

 from Bagdad to Bombay, January 29, 1865; 

 and later, private messages had reached Con- 

 stantinople from Calcutta in twelve hours, and 

 from Kurrachee hi eight and a half hours. From 

 Rangoon it is intended to lay a cable along the 

 coast of the Malay peninsula to Singapore, at 

 its southern extremity, and a cable thence along 

 the coast of Cochin-China and China, to Hong- 

 Kong and Canton. A branch from Singapore 

 is to proceed by alternate cables and land lines 

 along Java, Timor, and other islands, to the 

 northern coast of Australia, probably at the 

 Gulf of Carpentaria, there to connect with the 

 wires of that continent already in all some one 

 thousand two hundred miles in length even 

 Sydney and Melbourne being thus brought 

 within a few hours' distance of all the European 

 capitals. It is now expected that the lines both 

 to Canton and to Australia will be in operation 

 by the close of the year 18G7. 



The Siberian, or Russian Asiatic Line. Of 

 this, Kazan in European Russia, previously con- 

 nected by way of Nijni-Novgorod and Moscow 

 with St. Petersburg, may be considered the 

 starting-point. By the close of the year 1864, 

 this line had been completed by way of Perm, 

 west of the Ural Mountains, and east of them 

 through Ekaterinburg, Omsk, and Tomsk, to 

 Irkootsk, and either the mam line or a branch 

 to Kiakhta ; while, doubtless, the main line has 

 by the present time been carried far to east- 

 ward of this point, along the upper Amoor its 

 intended course being, according to Commander 

 Chefkin's statement, through Yerchne Udinsk, 

 Chetah, Habaravka at the mouth of the Usuri 



(branch of the Amoor). r.: 



;:v.-ky, where the great rhvr l!uv. s into tlio 



Strait of Tartary. It is anticipated that the 



line will be completed through its Hitire ! 



during 1867, if not earlier. Fn.m O 



on the western coast of Ireland, to Irko* 



distance of six thousand five hnndr 



despatch has been transmitted (in 18G4) in two 



hours' time. 



Main Branches of the Siberian Line. These, 

 as at present contemplated, are to be: 1. A 

 wire from Kazan southwardly through the As- 

 trakhan, Georgian, and Circassian provinces, 

 by Tiflis, to Teheran, the capital of Persia; 

 thence to join the Anglo-Indian line, either at 

 Bagdad, or by continuing through Ispahan and 

 Shiraz, to Bushire on the Persian Gulf. 2. A 

 wire from Omsk through Central Asia, running 

 southeastwardly through Mongolia, entering 

 China at Hi (or Illy), thence to southwest and 

 south through Turkestan, Bokhara, and Balk, 

 to Cabool in Afghanistan, and onward to points 

 in the Punjab at which it also will connect with 

 the Oriental or Indian system of lines. 3. A 

 wire from Irkootsk, which may, however, be 

 said to start at Kiakhta, following thence the 

 route of the tea caravans to the Chinese-wall 

 gate at Yahol, and thence to Pekin. A com- 

 pany of American citizens, resident in China, 

 and chartered in 1864 by the New York Legis- 

 lature, under the name of the East India Tele- 

 graph Company, proposes to unite the great 

 northern and southern lines again by supplying 

 the link here needful ; that is, by extending a 

 line from Canton and Hong-Kong, with the 

 necessary branches for the ports of Amoy, 

 Shanghae, and Nankin, to Pekin. From this 

 extension also it is designed to reach Australia 

 by another route carrying a wire (alternately 

 land and submarine) from a point on the mam- 

 land opposite the island of Formosa, across that 

 island, thence by way of Manilla across Luzon 

 and the other islands of the Philippine group, 

 thence by New Guinea, to cross Torres' Strait 

 to Cape York on the northern Australian coast. 

 4. A wire from the confluence of the Usuri with 

 the Amoor a point seven hundred miles above 

 the mouth of the latter, thence southward along 

 the Usuri to Lake Kingka, and to the port of 

 Yladi Yostok, opposite that of Hakodadi (on 

 Yesso), and which is to be the Russian naval 

 station on the Pacific. 5. A wire, submarine 

 and land, from the mouth of the Amoor, cross- 

 ing the Strait of Tartary, Saghalien Inland, the 

 Strait of La Perouse, Yesso through Hako- 

 dadi and the Strait of Sangar, to Jeddo, the 

 capital of Japan. 



The Collins Orerland Line. This impor- 

 tant line was projected by Mr. Perry McDon- 

 ough Collins, of California, who has been since 

 1856 commercial agent of the United States 

 Government for the region of the Amoor River. 

 Major Collins explored, in 1857, the country ly- 

 ing along that river, extending his journey 

 to Petropaulovsky, in Kamtschatka, about one 

 thousand miles east from its mouth, and across 



