The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the

292 LIFE OF SIR ROWLAND HILL. [1855-9
conveyance by that route. The enterprise, however,
was the reverse of profitable, and has at length been
abandoned.*
Peninsular and Oriental Company.
It must be added that, in the year 1858, the con-
veyance of the Australian mails by the usual route
was transferred, with no small public benefit, to the
Peninsular and Oriental Company, t by which it
has ever since been well performed, the passage to
Melbourne via Marseilles being brought within fifty
days, while a punctuality is maintained, which, consider-
ing the vast distance to be traversed, is extraordinary.
This remarkable regularity, however, while proceeding
in great measure from the excellent management of
the company, is, in this case, as in several others,
due in part to the gradual introduction of that system
of fines and rewards J to which we so long strove in
vain to induce railway companies to consent.
Indian Mutiny.
It may well be supposed, however, that during the
critical period of the Indian mutiny, when all thoughts
*
Even with the great assistance of the railway to California, it is doubtful if
the Western Route is the better for any colony except New Zealand. The
advantage of a bi-monthly mail is of course a distinct question.
It is curious how inveterate is the mistake in question. Columbus expected to
reach Cathay more quickly by sailing westward, but was stopped by the American
continent. The projectors of the " Darien Scheme " hoped to enrich themselves
by making their settlement a great entrepdt between Europe and the East Indies ;
and Macaulay, in his interesting narrative of the enterprise ("History of
England," Vol. V., p. 200), considers their mistake to consist mainly in the
assumption that Spain would permit a settlement on its territory ; but it seems
not to have occurred to him that, in any event, the scheme was intrinsically
hopeless, seeing that the old route by the Cape of Good Hope, besides avoiding
the cost and delay of transhipment, surpasses the Darien route even in shortness.
(October, 1872).
+ "Fifth Report," p. 17. "Sixth Report," p. 22.