Since 1845 the P. & O. steamers had carried passengers between England and China via the Red Sea, but they were expensive vessels to operate, and there were difficulty and delay in transportation across the Isthmus of Suez; consequently, their rates of freight were high and they were unable to compete with the tea clippers. On the other hand, auxiliary vessels did not have sufficient power to drive them against the southwest monsoon when new teas were shipped from China, as their heavy masts, yards, and rigging held them back in head winds. A number of auxiliaries were tried in the China trade, among them the _Scotland_, _Erl King_, _Robert Lowe_, and _Far East_, but they were not successful. As late as 1866 there were no steamers that could make the voyage between England and China with sufficient cargo to meet expenses, and very few persons at that time believed that the direct trade between Europe and China could ever be carried on by steamers, or that the Suez Canal, even if completed, would prove of any commercial value. In this year, however, Alfred Holt, of Liverpool, brought out three iron screw steamships with compound engines--the _Ajax_, _Achilles_, and _Agamemnon_,--2270 tons gross and 1550 tons net register--and put them in the China trade. These vessels could steam from London to Mauritius, a distance of 8500 miles, without coaling, a remarkable performance in those days, and they made the passage from Foo-chow to London in 58 days, at an average speed of 235 miles per day. These were the first steamships to perform long ocean voyages successfully, and they marked a new era in steam navigation, although they were expensive vessels to operate compared with steamers of the present day, and it was at first doubted whether they could be made to pay. The owners, builders, and captains of the tea clippers were not men to yield without a contest; they met this new and aggressive invasion of steam by building in rapid succession such noted fliers as the _Titania_, _Spindrift_, _Forward Ho_, _Lahloo_, _Leander_, _Thermopylæ_, _Windhover_, _Cutty Sark_, _Caliph_, _Wylo_, _Kaisow_, and _Lothair_. These, with the older tea clippers, held their own against the steamers until the opening of the Suez Canal in November, 1869, greatly lessened the length of the voyage and the difficulty and expense of obtaining coal. In 1868 the _Ariel_, _Taeping_, and _Sir Launcelot_ sailed from Foo-chow on May 28th, the _Spindrift_ on the 29th, the _Lahloo_ on the 30th, the _Serica_ on June 1st, and the _Leander_ on June 3d. The _Ariel_ and _Spindrift_ made the passage to Deal in 97 days, the _Sir Launcelot_ in 98 days, the _Lahloo_ in 100 days; _Taeping_, 102 days; _Leander_, 109 days, and _Serica_, 113 days.