“The dimensions of the _Monarch_, Edinburgh steamer, launched a few days since are as follows:--extreme length 206 feet 1¹⁄₂ inches, width of deck 37 feet, width outside the paddles 54 feet 4 inches, length of keel in the tread 166 feet; length of deck from the stem to the taffrail 193 feet, depth in hold 18 feet. The extreme length given above is within 2 feet of the largest ship in the British Navy; she is larger than any of His Majesty’s frigates, and longer than our 84-gun ships. Her tonnage is somewhat more than 1200 tons, and the accommodation below is so extensive that she will make up 140 beds, and 100 persons may conveniently dine in her Saloons.” [Illustration: THE “TRIDENT,” IN WHICH THE QUEEN AND PRINCE CONSORT RETURNED, SEPT. 1842.] The _Trident_, built in 1842, was another of the company’s famous ships, and was probably the first steam-ship in which a reigning sovereign went for a lengthy sea voyage. Queen Victoria paid her first visit to Scotland and made the return journey from Edinburgh with Prince Albert and their suite on this vessel. An interesting description of the voyage appeared in “Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands.” The Queen remarked of the accommodation on the _Trident_ “that it was much larger and better than on the _Royal George_,” which was the royal yacht of the period, and that it was “beautifully fitted up.” The _Trident_ soon lost sight of all the accompanying vessels, except the company’s steamer _Monarch_, which “was the only one that could keep up with us.” Writing a few days later to the King of the Belgians the Queen says: “We had a speedy and prosperous voyage home of forty-eight hours on board a fine, large, and very fast steamer, the _Trident_, belonging to the General Steam Navigation Company.” These vessels, of course, were of wood, but when iron steamers were introduced and paddles gave way to the screw propeller, the company was not slow to see the advantages of the innovations, and to adopt them for its services. In modern times this company has distinguished itself by its zeal for self-improvement. Every important development in steam-ship construction and engineering has been marked by the company by an addition to its fleet, one of the most recent being the _Kingfisher_, the first steam turbine-driven passenger steamer on the Thames. LONDON AND EDINBURGH SHIPPING COMPANY