1.The idea of reaching India by the Mediterranean，the Isthmus of Suez，and the Red Sea，and thus savingthe time spent in doublingthe Cape，first occurredto a man named Thomas Waghorn.In 1827he was appointed by the directors of the East India Company to report on the navigation of the Red Sea，and toconvey certain dispatchesby this route to Bombay.
2.He got notice of this mission on the 24th of October，and was desired to be at Suez by the 8th of December，in order to catch the steamer Enterprise ，and proceed in her to India.He took only four days to make ready for the journey，and on the 28th of October left London for Dover on the “Eagle”stagecoach.He then crossed the English Channel in a packet-boat，and proceeded to make his way，as rapidly as possible，over land to a Mediterranean port，from which he could get a vessel to carry him to Egypt.
3.Circumstances were against him.Bridges brokedown；falling avalancheshad to be avoided；an accidentdisabled the steamer in which he was to sail.In spite of all，he dashed through five kingdoms，and reached Trieste in nine days，or little more than half the time then taken by the mails for the same journey.
4.An Austrian brig had left for Alexandria the night before；but the breeze had fallen，and she was still to be seen from the hill-tops.A carriage was obtained，and off went Waghorn along the coast in chase of the vessel，hoping to make up to her at a village twenty miles down the Gulf of Venice.Every hour he gainedon her；he began to make out her hull，her sails，andher rigging.He urged on the post-boys with redoubledvehemence；he kept them going at a furious rate.
5.He was within three miles of the vessel；another half-hour would see him safe on board，and then-hurrah for India！But suddenly a strong northerly wind sprang up；the sails of the brig swelled out before it，and poor Waghorn，with his panting，jaded horses，was left far behind.The chase was hopeless now，so he went back to Trieste，exhausted with fatigue and disappointment.
6.Two days afterwards，he sailed from Venice on board a Spanish ship.After a voyage of sixteen days，hearrived at Alexandria，where he hired donkeys to take him to Rosetta.In spite of many delays，he succeeded in crossing the desert in time to keep his appointment at Suez on the 8th of December.
7.But there was no sign of the steamer.After waiting two days，with feverish impatience，Mr.Wag-horn determined to sail down the Red Sea in the hope of meeting her.The people of the district held up their hands in horror at the purpose of the madEnglishman，and tried to dissuade him；but Waghorncould not rest.He was commissioned to inquire into the navigability of these waters，and he would do so in an open boat if necessary，let folk say what they would；and so he did.
8.In six and a half days he arrived at Jiddah-six hundred and twenty miles from Suez-and anchored his boat close to one of the East India Company’s cruisers，the Benares.On going on board to learn the news，he was told by the captain that the Enterprise was not coming at all.This intelligence seems to have felled him like a blow，and he was immediately seized with a deliriousfever.
It was six weeks before he could proceed to Bombay，where he arrived on the 21st of March.In spite of all the drawbacks in his way，he had accomplished the journeyin four months and twenty-one days，which was a very short time for such a journey in those days.
9.During the next twelve years，Waghorn devoted himself to the establishment of the Overland Route.He provided English carriages，vans，and horses for the conveyance of the passengers across the Egyptian deser t，placed smal l steamers on the Nile and Alexandria Canal，built eight halting-places betweenCairo and Suez；and he “converted the wanderingrobbers into faithful guides，so that even ladies and children could cross and re-cross the desert with as much security as if they had been in Europe.”
10.What a change has taken place in the journey to the East by the Overland Route since the days of Waghorn！Having crossed by steamer from Dover to Calais，the traveller is swiftly borne by train to the French port of Marseilles，or，further still，through the Alps to Brindisi，near “the heel of the boot”formed by the south of Italy.This ends the overland part of the journey，for he has next to join the powerful steamer which will bear him across the Mediterranean to Port Said，through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to Aden，and then across the Indian Ocean to India，Ceylon，Singapore，China，or to Australia，should that continent be his goal.