The MONTROSE turned up just in the nick of time to save the crew when the ill-fated MEXICAN foundered off the Cape, and when the SUFFOLK stranded it was again an Elder-Dempster liner, the LAKE ERIE, that came to her assistance, and did all that was possible to rescue the crew. In the summer of 1902 Messrs. Elder, Dempster & Co. commenced running the luxuriously appointed ocean liner LAKE SIMCOE on pleasure cruises to the Norwegian Fjords. Those persons who have had the pleasure of travelling by this vessel are most enthusiastic in their praise of the ship, her officers and her equipment, and of all who are responsible for the comfort and enjoyment of the passengers. The LAKE SIMCOE is probably one of the largest pleasure steamers trading to the Norwegian Coast, but her rates of passage money are by no means commensurate with her size. It is an opportunity of visiting the Land of the Midnight Sun in comfort and even luxury which ought not to be missed. The fact that a large proportion of the commanders, officers, engineers, seamen and firemen serving under the firm are Royal Naval Reservists renders the Elder-Dempster fleet additionally valuable to the nation. [Illustration: Steamship] [Illustration: R.M.S. JEBBA. African Steamship Co. Limited.] CHAPTER II. THE AFRICAN STEAMSHIP COMPANY. Two years (1852) prior to the outbreak of the Crimean War, the African Steamship Company was incorporated by Royal Charter with limited liability. The initial capital was £250,000 in 12,500 shares of £20 each. The first directors of the Company were—Sir John Campbell, K.C.H. (Chairman), James Hartley, Esq. (Director of the P. and O. Co.), John Black, Esq., Henry William Schneider, Esq., Macgregor Laird, Esq., Henry William Currie, Esq., William Law Ogilby, Esq., and Charles William Gregory, Esq. Bankers, Messrs. Currie & Co., Cornhill. The prospectus of the company, as published in the “Times,” 13th July, 1852, was as follows:— “This Company is formed to carry out a contract with H.M. Government for the monthly conveyance of the mails to Madeira, Teneriffe, and the principal ports and places on the West Coast of Africa, viz., Goree, Bathurst, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cape Coast Castle, Accra, Whydah, Badagny, Lagos, Bonny, Old Calabar, Cameroons and Fernando Po; and to establish a line of steam communication between Sierra Leone and the British West Indies as soon as satisfactory arrangements are made with the Government. “The contract for the mails was taken by Mr. Macgregor Laird in December last, and is for a term of ten years from the 1st September next. The annual payment by the Government commences at £23,250, and diminishes at the rate of £500 yearly during the continuance of the contract, making an average payment of £21,500 per annum. “Five iron screw steamships for this service are in the course of construction by Mr. John Laird, of Birkenhead, with engines by Messrs. George Forrester & Co., and Fawcett, Preston & Co., of Liverpool.