Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean becomes the decisive last stretch of Phileas Fogg’s journey: a crossing whose distance, sailing conditions, and limited departures threaten to defeat a schedule that money and ingenuity have so far kept alive. After the China leaves New York without him, Fogg must find another way across the ocean before the wager’s deadline.

The final barrier

The missed sailing leaves Fogg with few workable alternatives. The Pereire will not depart until the 14th; the Hamburg boats go to Havre rather than directly to Liverpool or London, and the onward journey from Havre to Southampton would consume too much time. The Inman steamer leaves the next day and cannot cross the Atlantic quickly enough. Bradshaw’s timetable makes the predicament plain: the problem is not simply finding a vessel, but finding one whose route and speed can still serve the wager.

On 12 December, nine days, thirteen hours, and forty-five minutes remained before the deadline at a quarter before nine on 21 December. Had Fogg sailed in the China, one of the fastest Atlantic steamers, he could have reached Liverpool and then London in time. Its departure, missed by three-quarters of an hour, thus turns a viable timetable into an emergency.

Searching New York’s harbor

Fogg leaves the hotel alone, instructing Passepartout to wait and to have Aouda ready at a moment’s notice. Along the Hudson River, he surveys vessels preparing to depart with the morning tide. The harbor offers traffic in abundance—ships set out for destinations around the globe on nearly every day—but most of the vessels he sees are sailing ships and cannot meet his need.

A trading vessel anchored at the Battery catches his attention: the Henrietta, a screw-driven ship whose smoking funnel indicates that she is preparing to leave. Its captain, Andrew Speedy, refuses to take Fogg to Bordeaux even for two hundred dollars. Fogg’s proposed passage to Bordeaux is therefore only the opening move in a more consequential effort to secure the ship itself.

The Henrietta’s eastward passage

An hour later, the Henrietta passes the Hudson’s entrance, rounds Sandy Hook, skirts Long Island and Fire Island, and heads east. By noon the following day, Fogg is on the bridge in command. During the thirty hours since boarding, he has used banknotes to win over the sailors and stokers, an occasional crew already on poor terms with Andrew Speedy. The captain is locked in his cabin, while Fogg directs the ship toward Liverpool; his handling of the vessel reveals that he has been a sailor.

The ship’s pace offers a chance, not a guarantee. Andrew Speedy had estimated that the Henrietta could make between eleven and twelve knots, and the vessel initially travels smoothly, with sails raised and a north-easterly wind. But the crossing still depends on the sea remaining manageable, the wind not veering east, and neither the ship nor its machinery suffering an accident. The Atlantic’s three thousand miles must be covered between 12 and 21 December, leaving weather and mechanical failure as threats no timetable can eliminate.

Narrative significance

The Atlantic crossing makes the limits of Fogg’s customary solution visible. Earlier, money had smoothed away obstacles; in New York it cannot simply buy a suitable scheduled voyage. He responds by converting a passage into command, using money to alter the loyalties aboard the Henrietta and redirect its course. The ocean is therefore both physical distance and a test of improvisation: the wager now depends on an improvised ship, a commandeered route, and conditions beyond Fogg’s control. Even if the Henrietta reaches Liverpool in time, the events aboard it, together with the Bank of England case, may create further difficulties.