viii 
INTRODUCTION. 
about the same ; making the round voyage one of about 250 days 
on the average. 
XY. These charts, and the system of research to which they 
have given rise, bid fair to bring that colony and the mother coun- 
try nearer by many days, reducing, in no small measure, the aver- 
age duration of the round voyage.* 
XYI. At the meeting of the British Association of 1853, it was 
stated by a distinguished member — and the statement was again 
repeated at its meeting in 1854— that in Bombay, whence he 
came, it was estimated that this system of research, if extended 
to the Indian Ocean, and embodied in a set of charts for that sea, 
such as I have been describing, would produce an annual saving 
to British commerce, in those waters alone, of one or two millions 
of dollars ;t and in all seas, of ten millions.t 
XYII. A system of philosophical research, which is so rich with 
fruits and abundant with promise, could not fail to attract the at- 
tention and commend itself to the consideration of the seafaring 
community of the whole civilized world. It was founded on ob- 
servation ; it was the result of the experience of many observant 
Si 
* The outward passage, it has since been ascertained, has been reduced to 97 days 
on the average. 
t . . . " 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 cents 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 saihng 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 
of $2,250,000 saved per annum. This is on the outward voyage alone, and the ton- 
nage trading with all other parts of the world is also left out of the calculation. 
Take these into consideration, and also the fact that there is a vast amount of foreign 
tonnage trading between these places and the United States, and it will be seen that 
the annual sum saved will swell to an enormous amount." — Extract from Hunfs 
Merchant's Magazine, May, 1854. 
t See Inaugural Address of the Earl of Harrowby, President of the British Asso- 
ciation at its twenty- fourth meeting. Liverpool, 1854, 
