There were also many fine ships of English build sailing out of London in the Australian trade; the _Norfolk_ and _Lincolnshire_, built and owned by Money, Wigram & Sons; the _Kent_, _Trafalgar_, and _Renown_, built and owned by R. & H. Green; and many others. These ships were built of teak, oak, and elm; were copper-fastened and sheathed with red copper. They resembled smart frigates more than merchantmen, and were about the perfection of that type--splendid ships to be at sea in, though not so fast as the sharper American clippers. None of these vessels was over 1500 tons, and it was thought by shipping men in London and Liverpool that much of the speed of the American ships was due to their greater tonnage. There may have been some truth in this, but it should be remembered that with these large wooden vessels an increase in size made the difficulties in building greater, as well as in getting their wooden masts to stand with hemp rigging, to say nothing of handling their enormous single topsails in heavy weather. Meanwhile attempts were being made by various companies to introduce steam in place of the clipper ships that had carried the passengers, mails, and specie after the discovery of gold in Australia, but these efforts were beset with many difficulties and heavy financial losses. The _Australian_, an iron screw steamer of 2000 tons, was the first steamship to carry the mails from England to Melbourne. She sailed from Plymouth, June 5, 1852, and called at St. Vincent, St. Helena, Table Bay, and St. George’s Sound for coal, which had been sent out by ship from England to meet her. She arrived at Melbourne in 89 days from Plymouth, and returned by the Cape of Good Hope in 76 days. She arrived at London, January 11, 1853, having been 7 months and 6 days upon the voyage, a creditable but not a very brilliant performance. The _Australian_ was soon followed by the _Great Britain_, _Adelaide_, _Queen of the South_, _Sydney_, _Cleopatra_, _Antelope_, and other iron screw steamers; but these vessels nearly ruined [Illustration: The “Schomberg”] their owners and did not greatly interfere with the clippers. In 1854 the _Argo_, a full-rigged iron ship of 1850 tons register, with plenty of canvas and fitted with an auxiliary engine and screw, made the passage from London to Melbourne in 64 days and home round Cape Horn in 63 days; and though she sailed during the greater portion of the voyage, using her engines only in calms and light winds, she was the first merchant vessel using steam-power to circumnavigate the globe. This voyage is peculiarly adapted to auxiliary steam vessels, as, by following the sailing-ship track, very few strong head winds are met, and of course the screw is of great assistance in light winds and calms.