Mongolia

Mongolia is the iron steamer that carries Phileas Fogg and Passepartout from Brindisi through the Suez Canal toward Bombay. A vessel defined by its speed and regular timetable, it turns the early leg of Fogg’s journey into a demonstration of how much his schedule depends on working transport links—and how much time a fast ship can win when those links cooperate.

Vessel and Route

Mongolia belongs to the Peninsular and Oriental Company. The novel specifies its physical and mechanical scale: an iron hull, a burden of 2,800 tons, and 500 horsepower. It runs regularly between Brindisi and Bombay by way of the Suez Canal, making more than ten knots an hour between Brindisi and Suez and nine and a half knots between Suez and Bombay. The figures establish the ship not merely as a setting for the voyage but as a piece of infrastructure whose regularity and speed matter to Fogg’s tightly calculated itinerary.

Fogg and Passepartout sail aboard Mongolia from Brindisi on Saturday, October 5, at five in the afternoon. The recorded passage to Suez ends on Wednesday, October 9, at eleven in the morning: six days and a half after the journey from Turin began. That arrival matches the scheduled time, placing the ship and its timetable at the center of the expedition’s early progress.

Speed, Stops, and Coaling

The voyage also shows that a fast steamer depends on logistical stops. On October 13, Mongolia passes Mocha, whose ruined walls and surrounding coffee fields catch Passepartout’s attention. The following night it traverses the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb; the next day it calls at Steamer Point, northwest of Aden harbour, to take on coal. The ship must remain there for four hours, with 1,650 miles still to travel to Bombay.

Coaling is presented as a substantial operating cost, not a minor detail: coal in these distant seas costs three or four pounds sterling per ton, and the company spends about £800,000 a year on fuel. Yet the stop does not upset Fogg’s programme. Mongolia reaches Aden on the evening of October 14 rather than the morning of October 15, gaining fifteen hours against its expected arrival. The episode sets the ship’s speed against the material conditions that sustain it: distance from coal mines, the price of fuel, and time spent replenishing supplies.

Arrival at Bombay and Narrative Role

After leaving Steamer Point at six in the evening, Mongolia returns to the Indian Ocean with 168 hours to reach Bombay. Favourable conditions help the passage: the wind is from the northwest, the sails assist the engine, and the sea is calm enough for the steamer to roll little. On October 20, the Indian coast comes into view; a pilot boards, the palms of Bombay appear, and the ship reaches the quays at half past four in the afternoon.

Mongolia is due at Bombay on October 22 but arrives on October 20, two days early. During the passage, Passepartout has found an agreeable companion in Fix, while Fogg has continued his regular card-playing; at Bombay he is finishing the voyage’s thirty-third game of whist. These details give the crossing a double rhythm: the ship steadily consumes distance, while the passengers settle into routines aboard it. Mongolia’s early arrival makes that routine consequential, converting the vessel’s performance into time gained for the larger journey.