Carnatic

The Carnatic is the steamer linking Hong Kong and Yokohama whose changing departure time becomes one of the most consequential accidents in Phileas Fogg’s journey. A boiler repair first postpones its sailing, then its unexpectedly early departure leaves Fogg and Aouda behind while Passepartout, drugged and disoriented, boards alone. The ship carries him onward and, days later, becomes the place where the separated party’s routes converge again.

The ship and its changing timetable

At Hong Kong, Fogg learns that the Carnatic is the steamer bound for Japan. Its departure had been delayed because one of its boilers needed repair: instead of sailing the previous day, it was expected to leave the following day. That information seems to restore a usable margin to Fogg’s schedule. He descends to the saloon without visible disturbance, while Passepartout is delighted by the news and Fix, who wants to keep Fogg in Hong Kong, sees the prospect of delay as a threat.

The timetable changes again after the repairs are completed. Passepartout and Fix go to the steamer office and secure cabins for four people; the clerk tells them that the Carnatic will leave that very evening, not the next morning as previously announced. Passepartout welcomes the change because he assumes it will suit his master, and sets out to tell him. But Fix takes the opportunity to draw him into a tavern on the quay. The completed repair thus has two effects: it brings the sailing forward, and it gives Fix a narrow window in which to separate Passepartout from Fogg before the ship departs.

Passepartout’s passage alone

Fix reveals his identity and uses an opium den to prevent Passepartout from warning Fogg that the schedule has changed. Two waiters carry the unconscious Passepartout to a bed reserved for smokers. Three hours later, still driven by the duty he believes remains unfinished, he struggles out of the narcotic stupor and makes his way toward the harbour. The Carnatic is already alongside the quay and on the point of starting. Passepartout reaches the plank, crosses it, and collapses unconscious on deck as the steamer moves away. Sailors carry him to a cabin; he does not wake until the vessel is one hundred and fifty miles from China.

The ship’s motion and the sea air return Passepartout to his senses the next morning. At first, he assumes Fogg and Aouda may simply be elsewhere aboard: he looks on deck, then asks the purser for Fogg’s state-room. The purser knows no passenger by that name and says there is no young lady on board. The Carnatic is indeed bound for Yokohama, so Passepartout realizes he has boarded the correct steamer but left his master and Aouda behind. The recognition turns the ship from a means of keeping pace with Fogg into the physical evidence of their separation.

Passepartout reconstructs what happened: the departure time changed, he failed to pass on the news, and Fogg and Aouda missed the steamer. He also understands that Fix deliberately intoxicated him to bring about that result. The immediate consequences are severe. Fogg’s wager may be lost, Passepartout fears he may be arrested, and his own pocket is empty. His passage has already been paid, however, leaving him several days before he must decide what to do in Japan. The Carnatic carries him forward while his practical and emotional position remains unsettled.

From Hong Kong to Yokohama

The Carnatic leaves Hong Kong at half-past six on November 7, travelling at full steam toward Japan. It has a large cargo and a full cabin of passengers, but the two state-rooms reserved by Fogg are unoccupied. That detail marks the absence directly: the accommodation intended for the travelling party remains unused while Passepartout is the only member of it aboard.

At dawn on November 13, the steamer enters Yokohama, an important Pacific port of call for mail steamers and vessels carrying travellers between North America, China, Japan, and the surrounding islands. It anchors near the customs-house among ships flying many nations’ flags. Passepartout goes ashore without money and wanders without a plan. The ship has brought him to a busy international harbour, but its arrival does not reunite him with Fogg or give him an immediate way to continue the journey. His separation is not resolved by the voyage itself; he must make his way through Yokohama alone.

Reunion and narrative consequence

Fogg, Aouda, and Fix reach their destination on November 14 after travelling by the Tankadere. Fogg goes aboard the Carnatic as soon as he can and learns, to Aouda’s delight and perhaps to his own, that Passepartout arrived the previous day. The ship therefore supplies the first confirmation that the missing servant has survived and reached Yokohama, though the party still has to find him. The San Francisco steamer is due to leave that evening, making the search urgent; it eventually leads Fogg to William Batulcar’s theatre, where Passepartout is performing in costume.

Across these episodes, the Carnatic’s importance lies less in its destination than in the instability of its timetable. A repair first appears to offer Fogg extra time, then its completion advances the sailing and turns Passepartout’s failure to deliver a message into a missed passage. The ship carries one traveller away from the others, while its booked but empty cabins make their absence visible. Later, its arrival at Yokohama provides the link by which Fogg learns where Passepartout has gone. The same vessel thus marks both the interruption of the group’s journey and the first step toward its reunion.