They were square-sterned vessels, barque-rigged, and carried a long white funnel with a black top. The paddles were placed almost amidships, with the funnel abaft the paddle-boxes. The _Great Western_ might be described as a four-masted barquentine. She had one funnel carried between the fore and main masts, and the paddles were set abaft the main-mast. All three vessels had engines of the side-lever type. Those of the _British Queen_ were supplied by Napier from the Clyde, and those of the _President_ by Fawcett and Preston of Liverpool. The _Great Western’s_ engines were built by Maudslay, Son, and Field of London. The _President_ was built of oak with fir planking, her upper deck being flush from bows to stern. The stern was ornamented with the British and American arms, supported by the lion and eagle, appropriately painted. And for a figure-head she had a bust of Washington. The paddle-boxes were decorated with a five-point star. The first attempt to float the _President_ was not a success owing to the tide not being high enough. A second attempt the following day also failed, but on the third day, Monday, December 9, 1839, she was floated, and towed out of the dock and down to Blackwall, where she was safely moored. After the loss of the _President_ in 1841, the British and American Steam Navigation Company sold the _British Queen_ to the Belgians and retired from business altogether, leaving the _Great Western_ practically in sole possession of the Atlantic. But, as the next chapter will show, this splendid isolation was not hers for long. CHAPTER VI DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRANSATLANTIC SERVICE