Liner passengers
The only way to cross
Boats have carried passengers across stretches of water since
they were first developed. Boats matured into ships, and masts and
rigging were devised to use wind power to drive the ships along.
Gradually, ships made longer and longer passages, along coasts and
across seas and oceans. For even when there was an alternative land
route, going by sea was usually quicker. Until railways arrived in
the 1830s, land travel was limited to walking speed. Even when it
relied on the wind, a sailing ship could better that. Even so, sea travel was slow, uncomfortable and hazardous.
People travelled as passengers only when they had to, for example
if they were traders, ambassadors or soldiers. It was only in the
eighteenth century that improvements in the build and rigs of ships
meant a long sea passage could be undertaken with confidence. This
period saw the beginnings of mass movements by sea, with
thousands emigrating
from Europe to the `new worlds` of the Americas and
Australasia.
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