The first steamer to cross the Atlantic from west to east depending largely though not entirely on her own steam was the _Royal William_, built by James Goudie for the Quebec and Halifax Steam Navigation Company at Quebec, in the shipyard of Black and Saxton Campbell, upon the lines of an early Clyde steamer, the _United Kingdom_, built by Steele of Greenock in 1826 for the London and Leith service. She was 176 feet long, and 146 feet between perpendiculars. Her beam was 27 feet, and outside the paddle-boxes 43 feet 10 inches, and her depth 17 feet 9 inches. Her tonnage is variously given as 830 gross[51] and 1370 B.M.[52] She had side-lever engines of 180 horse-power[53] or 200 horse-power,[54] by Boulton and Watt. She was engined at St. Mary’s foundry, Montreal. Her launch took place on April 29, 1831, and after trading for a time between Quebec and Nova Scotian ports she was sold to another company, which ultimately tried the experiment of sending her across the Atlantic. Mr. Samuel Cunard was one of the directors of this company, but there is nothing to show that he assisted in the promotion of the scheme to send her over the ocean.[55] Nevertheless it is a fact that “the idea of starting a line of steamers to connect the two countries had occurred to his mind as early as 1830.”[56] On August 4, 1833, the _Royal William_ sailed from Quebec, coaled at Pictou, and began her journey. She is said to have steamed the greater part of the way, some writers say the whole of it, and arrived at Gravesend on September 11 after calling at Cowes. Probably owing to there being another vessel of the same name a few years later, some misconception has arisen as to her performance, for as a matter of fact, the first _Royal William_ did not steam all the way, but made a considerable portion of the voyage under sail alone. It is to the credit of Canadians, however, that this steamer was despatched, and it is upon this particular enterprise that the claim of the Canadians to have made the first steam-ship voyage across the Atlantic is founded. The subsequent history of this vessel is interesting. She stayed in the Port of London for a few weeks, after which she was chartered by the Portuguese, and while in their service her speed attracted the attention of the Spanish Government. The Spaniards purchased her towards the end of 1833 at the time of the first Carlist rebellion and changed her name to the _Ysabel Secunda_. It was shortly after this that she obtained the doubtful honour of being the first steamer to fire a gun in war, the Spaniards having armed her with six cannon. Her eventful career ended when she went to pieces on the Santander rocks. [51] “The Atlantic Ferry.” [52] Kennedy’s “History of Steam Navigation.” [53] _Ibid._ [54] “The Atlantic Ferry.” [55] _Ibid._ [56] “History of the Cunard Company.” [Illustration: THE “DIEPPE” (L.B. & S.C.R.).] [Illustration: THE “UNITED KINGDOM.”]