A TRIP ACROSS THE WORLD VIA PANAMA.

West Coast Times, Issue 277, 13 August 1866, Page 5

A TRIP ACROSS THE WORLD VIA PANAMA.

The following are extracts from au I account of the first trip to these colonies from England via Panama, contributed by one of the passengers, to the v Independent" of the 26th ultimo :—: — I propose to furnish your readers and future travellers with some notanda of the way. If I were writing for i readers on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus I should feel it needless and impertinent to say anything in commendation of the ships of the R.M.S.P. Co., in which the eastern part of the voyage to and from England will be made. The whole fleet is so noble — officered by long tried and competent men. Its arrangements are so complete, and carried out with such admirable regularity, that the trarelling public feels proud of the service, and words of mine would be wasted in saying how well the work is done ; but I write for Australians and New Zealanders, to , whom the whole route is new, and who are interested in knowing how their travelling comforts are likely to be looked after, and with what composure they may commit themselves to the care of ,the Directers of the Panama Route on their voyages to and fro — through what scenes they will pass — the conditions of climate they will be subject to, and why, as I have said, they should go Westward Ho ! to reach the east. The passage from Southampton to St.Thomas, a small Qanish island in the West Indies, was made in the Atrato, a magnificent steam frigate of 1967 tons register, 3126 tons- burden She is driven by paddle-wheel engines of 800 nominal horse-power, working up to 2100. The Atrato is the largest steamer I have ever voyaged in, and will not suffer in comparison with any other,' whether of P. & O. or Cunard, either as^to cleanliness, comfort, speed, or quiet. Space and fitness are her characteristics in every part. Like most others belonging to the R.M.S. •Company", she has a flush or spar deck, which gives a fine promenade for passengei>, and affords nio-3t acceptable shelter in bad weather. We left Southampton on Saturday, June 2, slipping from our moorings a little before four o'clock, with a 'head wind, which blew persistently for twelve days. On the Saturday following had passed the westernmost of the Azores, 1425 miles ;v; v or at the rate of 250 miles per day. On the afternoon of Friday, 1 5th, sighted Martinique, and early next morning anchored in the capacious and excellent harbor of St. Thomas, a free port, and' the rendezvous of the fleet belonging to the Royal Mail Company, and head quarters of their intercolonial trade. The run from Southampton was made in thirteen days, fourteen hours, twenty hours being at half-speed. The distance is 3654 miles, an average of more than eleven miles an hour, although the wind blew strongly from "the west ; but then the Atrato is a giant in steam power. She carries 1350 tons of coal, and burns about ninety tons per day. Her engines made 280,232 revolutions, at the rate of nearly fourteen and one third per minute, and as the actual distance ran by the ship was 3630 miles, each turn of the wheels propelled her ' nearly twenty-four yards ; the difference between the actual and computed distance run being due to ship's deviation. At St. Thomas, four vessels, each a large ship, awaited our arrival, and into these, mails, cargo, and passengers, with their baggage were transferred.- In the course of the day each had proceeded on its way. The Conway to Barbadoes and Demerara, the Solient to Havana, the Ida to Jamaica, and the Tamar to Colon and other places on the Spanish Main. Our share for places on the Pacific side of the Isthmus was about thirty passengers and 200 tons of cargo, contained in 700 packages of merchandise, besides the mails. It may well be imagined, therefore, how great the bustle, toil, and excitement on board the Atrato in effecting this mighty escupir in the course of the day, and under a blazing- sun. No sooner was the work effected, than we began our life on board the Tamar, which, favored by a strong trade wind, made the run to Colon — 1060 iriles in four days, fifteen hours, and the captain informed me it could have been done in twentytwo hours less had there been any object to gain, but it was useless to make speed, because the ships at Panama going north, south, and west, would not be ready to receive their passengers till tb^e 24th. Colon, called Aspinwall by the Americans, is the port and tennmus of the Panama railway on the Atlantic side. The old town or village named after Columbus is a few miles distant, a very unhealthy place, as is also the new settlement, which is on a swamp, reeking with the luxuriance of tropical vegetation — a choice place for fever, niosquitos, and flies, but we do not, or need not debark until the train is ready to bear us away, and on Friday, 22nd, we mount the cars and plunge into the mid and exquisitely beautiful scenery of the Isthmus. The immense chain of the Cordilleras, which, under different names, extends almost without interruption through the entire length of the two Americas, traverses the Isthmus, but instead of those lofty volcanic peaks which constitute so striking a 1 picture of this gigantic range of mountains, there is a sudden depression in its passage across the Isthmus, its continuity Being nearly broken at a point directly in the line of the shortest communication between the two oceans which is where the railway crosses, and is only thirty-five miles in breadth. The summit level of

the rail is 254 feet above Pacific highwater mark, and is very near the Pacific coast, towards which it descends with a gradient of one in the hundred, or fifty feet per mile. Arrived at Panama, we found the Rakaia, in which the voyage across the Pacific was to be made, waiting for us, and thus any anxiety we may have felt as to the immediate prosecution of our course was allayed, and we could pleai sautly occupy the short time of our stay in the town by exploring its ruins, and endeavoring to realise its grimly gay life, when the wealth of the new world was showered on the chivalry of Spain. The present town of Panama is built upon a rock, surrounded on three sides by water, and very strongly defended. It makes a fine appearance from the sea, and has noble buildings, although now for the most part in decay. Its churches and convent houses have an imposing appearance from the sea, i while the sea walls and bastions have a defiant look, although time's tooth and the ocean's fret have in some places worn them away. The town is thoroughly Spanish. It tells of the time when the Church and the Castle rose together, and when the keys of the temporal and spiritual powers were in the same honds. It bears marks of great opulence, of deep desolation, and also of reviving enterprise. Its streets are stately, but comfortless. Its houses aro massive, but the windows are for the i most part grated and unglazed. The ecclesiastical buildings are large and solid, and carry their date with them in the debased style and wretched taste of the 17th century. The town is very dirty, for its excellent drainage has been ruined, and \vere_ it not for ita admirable site, and the abundant rains, wouldjdoubtless be the haunt of fever. In spite of human neglect it i 3 probably one of the most healthy, as ie is also the most picturesque and imposing town along the whole West Coast. When the Rakaia left Panama, her weight, including engines, coals, and cargo, was 3200 tons, and it muat be regarded as a triumph of mechanical skill and science that the application of two and a-half cwts. of coal should drive this mass through the water at the rate of a mile in six minutes, and that this should be repeated for twentyseven or twenty-eight days in continuity until the whole breadth of the Pacific, 6540 miles, has been passed over. l We left Tabogo, an island about twelve miles from Panama, where ships anchor and take in coals, because the bay near the shore is shallow, .at two p.m. on Sunday, June 25. Our course, lay south, in order to clear Cape Mata, a low point eighty miles distant, and forming the western arm of the gulf, thence to Galapagos, sighting and leaving them on the starboard hand. From Galapagos, the Captain, who has had long experience in command of steamships, and is evidently a master of his craft ia its higher departments and scientific knowledge, took a great a circle course that would cany us by .Pitcairn Island to a certain poiut on the New Zealand coast, whence he could at any time diverge to Cape Palliser. From the Galapagos we had the Humboldt or Equatorial 'current in our favor, and the trade winds blew softly. We accomplished half our distance in twelve and a-half days. During this period the weather was delieiously mild and enjoyable. We were in the tropics. The thermometer generally stood about 80 clegs., but there was no sensation of heat, the atmosphere Avas so pure and invigorating that it was luxury to inhale its freshness, and at night the vault of heaven seemed to have enlarged, and the stars to have become more lustrous, owing to the absence and the diaphaneity of the atmosphere. Respecting this part of the passage I heard it said it was monotonous, but then peace itself is monotonous, and all enjoyment becomes tame after a little while;" however, we were spon roused from this luxury, for the second half of the passage was stormy enough. On Sunday evening, July 8, i we passed Pitcairn. No sooner had we passed the island than we found we had left the tropics and pleasant weather, and fallen at once into wintry storms and cold. The sea raged-r-the winds were fieice, and the ship lightened of her coal, began to roll heavily. After two gales of great severity had bloWn themselves out/ we began to fear that our hopes of a rapid passage would be disappointed ; then I favoring winds sprung up, and the engines, refreshed by cold water, propelled the ship with greater velocity, and we recovered time lost ; .but it was then found that the rate given by the log and the work done by the propeller gave a much less result by observation than was expected, proving a strong current towards the east. A third gale of greater force aad endurance dashed our hopes, and for several days the powers of the ship were heavily tasked. At about 800 miles from Cape Palliser a patclr of green water with much weed was passed, and on Saturday, the 2 1st, the weather cleared, and a fine wind speeded us to our desired haven. We sighted Palliser at ten p.m. The total distance run has been 6523 miles. The time occupied was twenty-eight days. The engines made 1,519,502 revolutions, aud 861 tons of coals were consumed. The thermometer between Panama and Pitcairn ranged from 90 degrees to 75 degrees ; between Pitcairn and Palliser, from 69 to 49. The average in the one case being 78 degrees, and in the other 58 degrees. The barometer (aneroid) in the former half of the passage was very steady ; average 30.16, in the latter half, 27.79, falling as low as twentyeight degrees.