Page 2 - The Wonder Book Of Ships - Big Steamers

BIG STEAMERS, Thc Maurettnda is herb ooutrsstod with.the nighty Colosaom ot liom6, whioh held 60,000 Bp€otatorc. occasions that vessels go that way,' so if you wish to imagine your- self shipwrecked, and cast, like Robinson Crusoe, on & desert island, it is not nearly so unlikely an event a,s ma,ny good people suppose. Another thing vou will guickly-notice-and notice with pride- is that more lines lead from the British fsles than from an;rwhere else, for Great Britain is truly the shipping, centro of the world, aad not only builds more vessels than all the other nations put together, but owns about half of the ocean-going ones. 'Our great steamship com- panies have so ma,ny routeg of their own, and so ma,ny working arrange- ments with each other and with foreign companies, that it is possible to go from our shores to almost any seaport in the world without changing steaners more than once, or perhaps twice at the most. This little article is intended to tell you something about these com- -panies and the routes they serve. A coloured plate in another part of the book shows the house-flags and funnels of many of them and will help you to distinguish their vessels at sea or in port. Let us suppose you have an uncle in Australia and he has asked you to come out to see him. You will have to apply for a very long i S' 'n' ,ll!--ll--;;i 1' Thre Mouretania contrastod sith tho Birmingham Town Hall. , -.- Lril