In the meantime the steamship was slowly but surely coming into prominence and recognition, and the year 1821 was far from unimportant as showing the practical results which had been obtained. As proof of the faith which was now placed in steam, the first steamship company that was ever formed had already been inaugurated the year before, and in 1821 began running its trading steamers. This was the now well-known General Steam Navigation Company, Ltd., whose first steamer, the _City of Edinburgh_, was built on the Thames by Messrs. Wigram and Green, whose names will ever be associated with the fine clippers which in later years they were destined to turn out from their Blackwall yard. The steamship _City of Edinburgh_ was launched in March, 1821, for the Edinburgh trade, and created so much attention that the future William IV. and Queen Adelaide paid her a visit, and expressed surprise at the magnificence of the passenger accommodation. The machinery (which was only of 100 horsepower) was described by the contemporary press as “extremely powerful.” In June of that year was also launched the _James Watt_, of which an illustration is given from an old water-colour. This vessel was built by Messrs. Wood and Co., of Port Glasgow, and was referred to by the newspapers of that time as “the largest vessel ever seen in Great Britain propelled by steam.” The _James Watt_, it will be seen, was rigged as a three-masted schooner, with the typical bow and square stern of the period. She was of 420 tons, and measured 141 feet 9 inches in length, 25½ feet wide, and 16½ feet deep. She had a paddle-wheel, 18 feet in diameter, on either side of the hull. These were driven by engines of the same horsepower as those of the _City of Edinburgh_, which had been made by Boulton and Watt. It was in this year also that the _Lightning_, a vessel of about 200 tons and 80 horse-power, gained further confidence for the newer type of vessel, for she was the first steamship ever used to carry mails. Before the third decade of the nineteenth century was closed, a little vessel named the _Falcon_, of 176 tons, had made a voyage to India--of course, via the Cape--and the _Enterprise_, a somewhat larger craft of 470 tons, had also done the passage from England to Calcutta; but like the _Savannah’s_ performance, these voyages were made partly under steam and partly under sail, so that these vessels may be regarded rather as auxiliary-engined than as steamships proper. At the same time, the _Enterprise_ was singularly loyal to her name, for out of the 113 days which were taken on the voyage, she steamed for 103. [Illustration: THE “JAMES WATT” (1821). _From a Water-Colour Drawing in the Victoria and Albert Museum._] [Illustration: SIDE-LEVER ENGINES OF THE “RUBY” (1836). _From the Model in the Victoria and Albert Museum._]