Shipping Routes

One

of the first long sea routes to be developed by European shipping was the "Guinea trade" to the west coast of Africa, which followed the ships of the fifteenth century explorers who were attempting to find a sea route to India. With the establishment of the regular slave trade this grew into a triangular route such as ship-owners frequently have to adopt in order to get the return cargoes which are an economic necessity. The regular run for British ships for nearly two centuries was out to the west coast of Africa with a general cargo of "notions," across to the West Indies with slaves, and home with sugar and rum. With certain changes due to the fluctuating slave market this triangle continued until the abolition of slavery.

The Portuguese were able to keep their secrets of the Indian trade for nearly a hundred years, but when it was opened to the English in the early I 7th century, first to the islands and then to the mainland, this route was rapidly developed with a very neces sary victualling station at the Cape of Good Hope. It was after wards continued to China and when the East India Company lost its Indian monopoly in 1814 an alternative was found and it sent many of its ships to Australia with settlers and their stores, then on to China in ballast to load tea for Great Britain.

This tea trade attracted the attention of the American ship owners who, employing very much faster ships than the East Indiamen, worked up a big trade from the United States to China by way of the Cape with general cargo, collecting for the Ameri can and European markets. Their ships entered the British trade from China on the repeal of the Navigation Act, and for a time obtained the cream of the business but almost immediately after wards the discovery of gold in California gave them such oppor tunity on a route that was protected from foreign competition that the Oriental trade was speedily abandoned.

This superior speed was characteristic of American ships. In colonial days their shipping was very severely handicapped by leg islation, but as soon as the United States attained full independ ence they established a lucrative trade along a regular lane from the New England States to the West Indian islands, particularly with the Spanish possessions from which they were debarred. It was to avoid the Spanish warships that the American shipbuilders first turned their attention to speed, and it had a very consider able influence on their trading operations.

The direct route across the Atlantic from Britain to the United States was comparatively neglected until the end of the Napole onic Wars, when the first of the fast sailing vessels which were to become famous as the Western Ocean Packets were started by enterprising Americans and soon included some of the finest ships afloat. Even when regular steamers were running the sailing packets maintained a large measure of their position, particularly in the emigrant traffic. The short distance and the big volume of passenger trade on the North Atlantic permitted fast and luxuri ous tonnage then just as it does to-day.

In the earlier days of Atlantic steam navigation the coal diffi culty necessitated a call at Halifax, which was abandoned when more economical machinery was evolved. Although the direct service is more than ever important, the post-war tendency is to revive such intermediate calls with the less expensive tonnage, while the biggest ships tap the Continental as well as the British trade by making use of the various Channel ports instead of the Western.

The "Suez" Changes.

On the Eastern routes, the experiment of sending steam ships out to India by way of the Cape having proved too expensive to be practical, a new "overland route" was established in which a proportion of the tonnage was kept in the Indian Ocean, running from Suez, while other steamers carried the passengers and cargo to Alexandria, the connection across the Isth mus of Suez being made by caravan. The expense, trouble and discomfort of this route gave to the sailing ships which succeeded the East Indiamen, particularly the "Blackwall frigates," the greater part of the cargo and a proportion of the passenger busi ness to India, Australia and the East until the Suez canal was completed in 1869.

This waterway changed all the principal trade lanes to the East. It was not suitable for sailing vessels but favoured the steamship in every respect, so that sailing ship freights fell and it became necessary to build tonnage for large capacity rather than for small ' cargoes at high charges. This sounded the death knell of the clipper. Within comparatively few years the sailing ship as a first class passenger carrier was doomed, although it still had good chances of profit from emigrants and special passengers.