"We had a violent head-wind, or rather gale. Yet, in spite of this current of air, the thermometer stood at 85 deg. on deck, and 90 deg. in the cabin. For two or three days we had a temperature of 90 deg. to 95 deg.. This part of the Red Sea is considered to be the hottest portion of the earth's surface. In the summer the air is like that of a furnace, and the bare red mountains glow like heaps of live coals. The steamers at that time almost invariably lose some of their firemen and stewards. Cooking is quite given up."[U] Bankok, Singapore, and Java can be reached more quickly from England by Puget Sound than by Suez. Notwithstanding the discomforts of the passage down the Red Sea, the steamers are always overcrowded with passengers, and loaded to their utmost capacity with freight. The French line, the Messageries Imperials de France, has been established, and is fully employed. Both lines pay large dividends. The growth of the English trade with China during the last sixteen years has been very rapid. Tea has increased 1300 per cent, and silk 950.[V] The trade between the single port of Shanghai and England and America in the two great staples of export is seen from the following statement of the export of tea and silk from that port from July 1, 1859, to July 1, 1860:-- Tea, lbs. Silk, bales. Great Britain, 31,621,000 19,084 United States, 18,299,000 1,554 Canada, 1,172,000 France, 47,000 The total value of exports from England to China in 1860 was $26,590,000. Says Colonel Sykes:-- "Our trade with China resolves itself into our taking almost exclusively from them teas and raw silk, and their taking from us cotton, cotton yarns, and woollens."[W] The exports of the United States to the Pacific in 1861 were as follows:-- To China, $5,809,724 Australia, 3,410,000 Islands of the Pacific 484,000 ---------- Total, $9,703,724 By the late treaty between the United States and China, that empire is thrown open to trade; and already a large fleet of American-built steamers is afloat on the gleaming waters of the Yang-tse. Mr. Burlingame, our present Minister, is soon to take his departure for that empire, with instructions to use his utmost endeavor to promote friendly relations between the two countries. That this country is to have an immense trade with China is evident from the fact that no other country can compete with us in the manufacture of coarse cotton goods, which, with cotton at its normal price, will be greatly sought after by the majority of the people of that country, who of necessity are compelled to wear the cheapest clothing.