With the "passing" of the sailing-ship much of the poetry and romance of the sea disappeared. The era of the steamship is more prosaic, but it brought with it a recognition of the spirit of the times that the expanding trade of the world and the march of civilisation, demanded speed and regularity in our sea services for their development, and what we have lost in romance we have more than made good by the wider distribution of the world's products which the facilities for travel and the rapid conveyance of our merchandise have made available. All parts of the world have been brought within easy reach of the traveller, and our trade routes have been increased and expanded. We have opened up new markets for our exports, and new sources for the supply of food. Our people are now largely fed by supplies of perishable food which reach us from the far distant Antipodes. It is, indeed, difficult to say what might have happened if we were still dependent upon the old sailing-ship. The advent of the steamship was most fortuitous. Just as in our means of conveyance by land, new means and forms of transport have been developed with our increasing population, so it would appear that, as the growth of our population and the spread of civilisation have demanded it, improved facilities for travel by sea have been opened up. The passing of the sailing-ship made very slow progress in the beginning, for although steamers entered the Atlantic and the East India trades about 1840, the old-fashioned wooden paddle steamer was not a serious competitor except in the conveyance of passengers and mails. It took thirty or forty years to develop improvements in the design of steamers and to effect the evolution of the marine engine, and the progress made was gradual. The high-pressure engine, the compound engine, the turbine, and now the geared turbine were all steps in the direction of securing the economy and efficiency necessary to make the steamer an effective competitor in the conveyance of heavy or bulky cargoes; but once this point was reached, the sailing-vessel was doomed except in the small coasting trades. The opening of the Suez Canal also gave the steamer a great advantage, and perhaps did more than anything else to destroy the position of the sailing-ship in the long trades. It will be interesting to watch the effect which dear coals and cost of sailing may have in reviving the fortunes of the sailing-ship. [Illustration: SS. "Savannah," 1818]