260 COFFEE, 



resemble a buoy was dropped overboard, a gun fired, and tbe pas- 

 sengers of course all rushed on deck to find out what the firing 

 meant. They were referred to the buoy, which was now plainly 

 visible astern, as being the buoy which marked the 180th parallel 

 of longitude. Of course they accepted this statement as " gos- 

 pel truth," and due note was made of it in diaries, but after the 

 joke had been carried sufficiently far it was duly explained by 

 the captain, much to the enjoyment of the few who were in the 

 secret, and the chagrin of those who had been taken in. 



We have now been out twenty-three days, and have made 4,577 

 miles. If nothing happens, twelve hours more will bring us to the 

 end of our voyage — a voyage which, although we consider it long, 

 is less than half the time formerly occupied by our clippers in cross- 

 ing the same space. Nine years ago the first steamer of this line 

 crossed the Pacific Ocean, and for all the purposes for which 

 oceans are valuable, for the use of commerce, reduced the distance 

 between Asia and America one-half. Many may not appreciate 

 the significance of this, but it means that the commerce of the In- 

 dies — the prize for which all the great nations of the earth have 

 contended during the last two thousand years — lias been brought 

 within the grasp of the youngest nation. All that it needs is a 

 wise and liberal policy on the part of our statesmen. Natives of 

 China and other countries whose shores are washed by the Pacific 

 Ocean must be guaranteed, when they come to this country, the 

 same right that our Constitution has given the citizens of every 

 country who have come to us since we have been a nation. The 

 only important line of American steamships now afloat should be 

 kept going by the same means that have fostered all British lines 

 until they were strong enough to make their way unassisted — 

 liberal subsidies for frequent mail service. 



Frequent communication with, and simple justice in the treat- 

 ment of the natives of the Indies will give us their trade. They 

 will send us their tea, silk, coffee, and spices, and take our fiour, 

 petroleum, machinery, and other manufactured goods in vast quan- 

 tities. Already entire cargoes of flour are shipped to China from 

 our Pacific Coast, and the steamer upon which I am writing has 

 more than a thousand tons of fiour, dried fish, machinery, and 

 other American products on board, destined for China and Japan. 



