30 GROWTH OF MARITIME COMMERCE 



the country. The only other expeditions I heard of were those of Lieu- 

 tenant Henry, who was on the way from Stanley Pool to Lado, and of 

 Major Lothaire, who had just left Bangala for the north. I saw large 

 numbers of troops being trained at Bangala. Generally speaking, the 

 whole Kongo was quiet — certainly tranquillity prevailed along the river. 

 An expedition was about to be sent north of Basoko against a very hostile 

 tribe. It was reported that it was not safe for any European to go more 

 than two hours' journey to the north of Basoko. At this place I stayed 

 with Captain Guy Burrows, who is commandant of the Aruwimi district, 

 and who helped me considerably. The influence of such men and of 

 other Englishmen who are now in the Kongo State service is doing a 

 great deal to check excesses which were formerly so common." 



During the whole of his journey Mr Lloyd enjoyed good 

 health, having onty two very slight attacks of fever. 



GROWTH OF MARITIME COMMERCE 



In his admirable paper on Maritime Commerce: Past, Pres- 

 ent, and Future, which appears in the Proceedings of the Ameri- 

 can Association for the Advancement of Science, 1898, Dr E. L. 

 Corthell. the eminent engineer, states that during the fifty years 

 that have elapsed since the formation of the American Associa- 

 tion the weight of the seaborne commerce of the world has in- 

 creased from 26,500,000 tons in 1848 to 201,000,000 tons in 1898, 

 and the total number of steamships from 242, with a tonnage of 

 74,700 and an indicated horse-power of 2,000,000, to 11,271, 

 with a tonnage of 17,889,006 and an indicated horse-power of 

 60,000,000. The average length of the twenty largest steamships 

 has increased from 230 feet to 541 feet, the average breadth from 

 36.2 feet to 61 feet, and the average depth from 23 feet to 39 feet. 

 The average speed of the. twenty largest steamshij^s has in- 

 creased from 9.2 knots to 18 knots, and that of the twenty fastest 

 steamships from 10 knots to 22 knots. 



Dr Corthell states that draught of water for the steamships of 

 the present and future is the desideratum to which urgent atten- 

 tion should be called by all who desire the continued develop- 

 ment of commerce and the still further cheapening of transpor- 

 tation and reduction of prices. Twenty-seven feet is now the 

 extreme limit of depth to which a ship can load on either side 

 of the Atlantic. While the great Atlantic liners are increasing 

 in length and breadth, the draught of water has to be kept the 



