We have digressed a little from our immediate subject in order to put into the mind of the general reader some conception of the difficulties which Brunel had to encounter when he set to work to produce such a vessel as the _Great Western_. That she was built on sound lines is proved by the service which she rendered to her owners before she was finally broken up in 1847. On her first return voyage from New York she took fifteen days, and the _Sirius_ seventeen. The _Great Western_ had no such trouble with her “coal-endurance” on her maiden voyage as the _Sirius_ had suffered, for she had reached New York with one quarter of her coals still unconsumed, and the obvious conclusion which came to any reasoning mind was that it certainly paid to build a vessel big enough to carry plenty of fuel. But the _Great Western_ “paid” in more senses than this; and at the end of her first year, her directors were able to announce a dividend of 9 per cent. Thirty-five guineas was the fare in those days, and the largest number of passengers carried on any one of her journeys was 152. [Illustration: THE “GREAT WESTERN” (1838). _By permission of Messrs. Henry Castle & Sons._] [Illustration: PADDLE-WHEEL OF THE “GREAT WESTERN.” _From the Model in the Victoria and Albert Museum._] Like her contemporaries, the _Great Western_ was fitted with side-lever engines, built by Maudslay. Steam was generated from four boilers, and conducted into two cylinders, her daily consumption of coal being about 33 tons. A model of one of her paddle-wheels, which were 28 feet 9 inches in diameter, is here illustrated. This type is known as the “cycloidal” wheel, in which each float, instead of being made of one solid piece of material, is composed of several horizontal widths arranged after the manner of steps in a cycloidal curve, as will be seen by looking at the right-hand of the wheel. It will be noticed that through the space left between each “step” the water could penetrate when the wheel was in the sea, but when revolving out of it, the resistance to the air was diminished because the latter was allowed to get through. As the paddle came in contact with the sea, the concussion was lessened, and thus there was not so much strain on the engines. The _Great Western_ employed the type introduced by Joshua Field in 1833, but this form was brought in again by Elijah Galloway two years later.