reciprocate his compliment by regarding him as the best of captains.
Officers and crew also have been, to our view at least, faultless; but
then, again, all that so much depends upon the captain.

Touching the important matter of speed, let me say a little. All
important it is, indeed, in this age of fast progress. When I first
sailed for Australia, in 1840, we were, I think, 141 days on the way.
Nor was that a very inordinate passage then. This time I expect, within
that interval, to go and return, besides having nearly two and a half
months to spare--a space of time which now, with rails and fast steamers
everywhere, will enable me to visit all South-Eastern Australasia,
including even New Zealand. Of course, that means hardly more than "to
see," but still that is better than not to see at all, those wonderful
parts of our empire.

But yet again, on this point of speed, our "Coptic's" daily run averaged
rather under 300 nautical miles. In justice to the good ship, we should
credit her with rather more, for during the latter half of the voyage
she was meeting or anticipating the sun by six or seven degrees of
longitude daily, and thus clipping about half an hour off each day. But
turn now to the latest like exploit between Liverpool and New York--the
case, I think, of the s.s. "Umbria", whose unprecedented record is of
455 to 503 miles daily. Granting this to be subject to abatement for
running this time away from the sun, and thus prolonging the day, there
is enough of difference to give us, at this speed, the hope of a three
weeks' Australian service by the straightest available line. It has
already been effected to Adelaide in 29 days. We Australians must hope
that ere long Melbourne and Sydney, together with all about them, will
weigh, with ourselves at least, as heavily as New York. The coal
question is, of course, an awful difficulty for three weeks instead of