[1] This was not the first voyage of a steamer between England and America. The Savannah made the passage from New York to Liverpool as early as 1819; but steam was only used occasionally during the voyage, In 1825, the Enterprise, with engines by Maudslay, made the voyage from Falmouth to Calcutta in 113 days; and in 1828, the Curacoa made the voyage between Holland and the Dutch West Indies. But in all these cases, steam was used as an auxiliary, and not as the one essential means of propulsion, as in the case of the Sirius and the Great Western, which were steam voyages only. [2] "In 1862 the steam tonnage of the country was 537,000 tons; in 1872, it was 1,537,000 tons; and in 1882, it had reached 3,835,000 tons."--Mr. Chamberlain's speech, House of Commons, 19th May, 1884. [3] The last visit of the plague was in 1665. [4] Roll of Edward the Third's Fleet. Cotton's Library, British Museum. [5] Charnock's History Of Marine Architecture, ii. 89. [6] State Papers. Henry VIII. Nos. 3496, 3616, 4633. The principal kinds of ordnance at that time were these:--The "Apostles," so called from the head of an Apostle which they bore; "Curtows," or "Courtaulx"; "Culverins" and "Serpents"; "Minions," and "Potguns"; "Nurembergers," and "Bombards" or mortars. [7] The sum of all costs of the Harry Grace de Dieu and three small galleys, was 7708L. 5s. 3d. (S.P.O. No. 5228, Henry VIII.) [8] Charnock, ii. 47 (note). [9] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, ii. 126. [10] The Huguenots: their Settlements, Churches, and Industries, in England and Ireland, ch. iv. [11] Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, ii. 156. [12] Ibid. ii. 85. [13] Picton's Selections from the Municipal Archives and Records of Liverpool, p. 90. About a hundred years later, in 1757, the gross customs receipts of Liverpool had increased to 198,946L.; whilst those of Bristol were as much as 351,211L. In 1883, the amount of tonnage of Liverpool, inwards and outwards, was 8,527,531 tons, and the total dock revenue for the year was 1,273,752L.!