In consideration of these more onerous conditions the subsidy was increased from £60,000 to £81,000 per annum. The first four vessels of the Cunard Line, or as it was then formally known, “The British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company,” were practically sister ships. There was little choice between them in size or power of engines, nor was there much difference in their internal arrangements. These vessels were built on the Clyde, the _Britannia_ by R. Duncan, the _Arcadia_ by John Wood, the _Caledonia_ by C. Wood, and the _Columbia_ by R. Steel. The orders were placed with four different builders so that the steamers might be ready as soon as possible. They were all launched in 1840, and all were fitted with the ordinary side-lever engines by Robert Napier, who had brought this type of engine to a high pitch of perfection. The _Britannia_ was 207 feet long by 34 feet 4 inches broad, with a moulded depth of 24 feet 4 inches, and had a tonnage of 1154; her engines indicated 740 horse-power and gave her an average speed of 8¹⁄₂ knots on a coal consumption of 38 tons per day. Her cargo capacity was about 225 tons. Each of these vessels was fitted to carry 115 cabin passengers but none in the steerage. All were adapted for the transport of troops and stores in time of war. The first steamer actually sent across the Atlantic for the Cunard organisation was the _Unicorn_, which left Liverpool on May 16, 1840, for Halifax and Boston, and was then employed for several years between Picton and Quebec, in connection with the liners, and carried both mails and passengers. The first departure under the mail contract, however, was on Friday, July 4, 1840. That a Friday should be selected for the inauguration of the service, even though it was “Independence Day” in America, was received with much shaking of the head by those who clung to the sailors’ superstition concerning the unlucky nature of Friday, but nothing untoward happened, and the choice of “Independence Day” for the first departure of the new line was hailed in America as a most graceful compliment. The voyage to Boston lasted 14 days 8 hours. The mail service was continued with conspicuous regularity for three years, when it was found that the traffic had increased to such an extent that the four steamers were no longer able to cope with it. Accordingly in 1843 the _Hibernia_ was added, and in 1845 the _Cambria_, sister ships of 210 feet in length between perpendiculars, 35 feet 9 inches beam, 24 feet 2 inches moulded depth, 1422 tons gross, and with engines of 1040 indicated horse-power, and an average speed of 9¹⁄₄ knots.