The Great Barrier Reef. 305 



and Marseilles, and take ship by the Messageries line, run- 

 ing between Corsica and Sardinia, calling at Naples, which 

 you have plenty of time to explore ; making for the Straits 

 of Messina, so as to boast ever afterwards of a passing 

 acquaintance with fiery Stromboli, and finding yourself, after 

 six days of Mediterranean variety, at the mouth of the Suez 

 Canal. Or you may work your way across Europe vi& 

 Brindisi, and patronize the P. and O. Company, or adopt one 

 or two humbler lines direct from London, such lines being 

 in correspondence with the E. and A. Company's system. 

 There is a fierce controversy amongst travellers as to which 

 is the better class of steamers, that of the long-established 

 P. and O., or that of the French company. Both have their 

 advocates, but the most important point is that if you are 

 prepared to pay your money you may take your choice, and 

 that, travel how you may, Singapore must be your final 

 changing place, and the Eastern and Australian Company's 

 fleet your sole alternative. 



The Torres Straits passage was, not so long ago, regarded 

 as too fraught with deadly perils to be practicable ; now it is 

 thought little of except as a great improvement upon our 

 communication with Australia, and a popular highway to the 

 youngest, and, in the matter of resources, richest of the 

 Australian colonies. The E. and A. Company has a fleet of 

 admirably-appointed vessels, commanded by experienced 

 navigators, who know how to thread their way through the 

 wondrous Eastern Archipelago, amidst beautiful islands, now 

 clothed with profuse vegetation, and now conspicuous by 

 boldly-asserting mountain ranges and volcanic peaks. If 

 the monsoon is favourable the course lies through the 

 Straits of Rhio, the scenery of which is of the finest ; then 

 by the island of Banca, where the Chinese work the produc- 

 tive tin-mines for their Dutch owners ; then along the coast 



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