In the course of our story we have seen the beginnings of the principal steamship companies trading not merely to the west, but in many other spheres. In tracing the history of steamship companies as distinct from that of the steamship herself, we are immediately confronted with difficulties, for the company may be older than steamships of any sort; or, again, the company may be of comparatively modern origin, yet from the first possessed of the finest steamships, of a character surpassing their contemporaries. For instance, one of the very oldest lines is the Bibby Line to Rangoon. This was founded as far back as 1807, yet it was not until 1851 that it adopted steam. The White Star Line, as we have seen, was previously composed of sailing vessels, and its first steamship, the _Oceanic_, did not appear until 1870, but when she did make her appearance, she surpassed anything else afloat by her superior virtues. To take, therefore, a chronological survey of the establishment of the steamship organisations would be to convey nothing satisfactory to us in our study of the evolution of the steamship, but nevertheless, we may pertinently set forth some of the more venerable but no less active steamship lines of the present day. [Illustration: THE “MOOLTAN.” _From a Photograph. By permission of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co._] In addition to those already mentioned whose coming certainly was intimately connected with the evolution of the steamship, we might mention Messrs. George Thompson and Company’s Aberdeen Line, which at one time was famous for its fine fleet of sailing ships. This line was established in 1824, the year of incorporation of the General Steam Navigation Co. Six years later the Harrison Line arose, though the Allan Line, which dates back to 1820, did not run its first steamer until 1854. The well-known Hull firm of Messrs. Thomas Wilson and Sons appeared in 1835, and the African Steamship Company three years earlier. In 1849 the City Line, now amalgamated with the Ellerman Line, was founded, as also were Messrs. Houlder Brothers. The Anchor Line came in 1852, and the Castle Mail Packets Company, which is now amalgamated with the Union Line to form the Union-Castle Line. The British East India Company dates from 1855, and the Donaldson Line a year earlier. The year 1856 saw the inauguration of Messrs. J. T. Rennie and Sons’ Aberdeen Line to South Africa, and in 1866 the Booth Line was first started, whilst the Collins Line had been formed in 1850, the Inman Line the same year, the North German Lloyd in 1858, the Compagnie Transatlantique in 1861, the National Line in 1863, and the Guion Line (originally Williams and Guion) in 1866. Some of the last-mentioned are now extinct, and have been dealt with in another chapter. Within the last few months the P. and O. Company have absorbed the Lund Line, and the shipping interests of the late Sir Alfred Jones have been consolidated by Lord Pirrie, whose name is so well