[19] Certain kinds of freight admit of peculiar packing, of which an instance occurs to me in the loading of American cheeses. The side-ports of the ship are opened, and a series of inclined chutes are arranged so that the cheeses roll by their own weight from the truck on the pier through the open port, and are switched off on side chutes, which carry them to their final resting place, where men stow them in solid layers. Some vessels, not provided with side-ports, hoist the packages on deck in nets and lower them down the hatchways. Some of these products of the American dairy return to us as English manufacture—the “Cheshire” and “Double Gloucester.” STEAMSHIP LINES OF THE WORLD. BY LIEUTENANT RIDGELY HUNT, U. S. NAVY. IMPORTANT PART TAKEN BY THE UNITED STATES IN ESTABLISHING OCEAN ROUTES—RIVALRY IN SAILING VESSELS WITH ENGLAND—EFFECT OF THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA—THE CAPE HORN ROUTE—AUSTRALIAN PACKET LINES—THE PROBLEM OF A SHORT ROUTE TO INDIA—FOUR MAIN ROUTES OF STEAMSHIP TRAFFIC—CHARACTERISTICS OF THE REGULAR SERVICE BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE EAST—PORT SAID AND THE SUEZ CANAL—SCENES AT ADEN AND AT BOMBAY—THE RUN TO COLOMBO, CEYLON—SOME OF THE BY-WAYS OF TRAVEL FROM SINGAPORE—THE PACIFIC MAIL—FROM YOKOHAMA TO SAN FRANCISCO—TWO ROUTES FROM PANAMA TO NEW YORK—SOUTH AMERICAN PORTS—MAGNIFICENT SCENERY OF THE MAGELLAN STRAITS—BEAUTIES OF THE PORT OF RIO—THE GREAT OCEAN ROUTE FROM LONDON TO AUSTRALIA. Writers of maritime history give to the United States the credit of establishing long lines of communication by sea with far-distant countries. As early as 1789 the merchants of Boston despatched their ships direct to China and the East Indies, some time before England entered on this trade; for the American vessels not only brought their cargoes to the home markets, but also trans-shipped spices, silks, teas, sugar, coffee, and cotton to Europe. In those times a skipper felt satisfied if he made the outward voyage of 15,000 miles, by way of the Cape of Good Hope, in 150 days, and came back _via_ Cape Horn, some 17,000 miles, in the same time.