ocean to-day and see such mighty steamships as _Olympic_, _Aquitania_, _Majestic_ and _Berengaria_, to say nothing of the many thousands of smaller steamers all over the world, it is nothing short of remarkable that in little more than a hundred years such a stupendous change should have come about. The advancement of the ship seems suddenly to have been telescoped. [Illustration: [_By courtesy Messrs. T. H. Parker._ CLIPPER SCREW S.S. “HELLENIS.” 755 tons, length 206 ft. Owned by the Anglo-Ionian Steam Navigation Co., Ltd. Built at Stockton. In 1861.] [Illustration: [_By courtesy Messrs. T. H. Parker._ S.S. “ORINOCO.” 2,250 tons, 800 horse-power. Lieut. G. M. Chapman, R.N., Commander. Owned by Royal West India Mail Company.] But the successive stages were not easy, and there was much to be learnt. In 1811 on the Clyde was launched the _Comet_, a clumsy little thing of 40 feet length on the keel, and able to steam five miles an hour by means of one paddle on each side, as in the case of the _Clermont_. During the next few years paddle-steamers began to be built and introduced on the Clyde, Thames and Mersey. By 1817 a steamer called the _Caledonia_ had been taken from the Clyde to the Thames, whence, after receiving new engines, she steamed to Rotterdam. A year later came the 90-ton _Rob Roy_, constructed by William Denny and engined by Napier with thirty nominal horse-power. After running for some time between Greenock and Belfast, she was transferred to the Dover-Calais route, but in the meantime steamer development was proceeding in other parts of Europe. For in 1815 a small craft called the _Elizabeth_ was running on the Neva, another steamer was carrying passengers between Cronstadt and St. Petersburg, whilst in Germany the first vessel of this kind to be built was the _Prinzessin Charlotte_, a double-hulled thing with a single paddle-wheel between the hulls. She was running on the Elbe and Spree as early as 1816. Thus far small steamers had shown their utility for inland waters and for short sea passages; but now comes another important event. In the year 1818 there was built in New York the 350-ton full-rigged ship _Savannah_, but she was also fitted with a low-pressure engine of ninety horse-power, and a couple of paddle-wheels, one on each side. These were so arranged that they could be hoisted on board. In the following year she crossed the Atlantic to Liverpool in thirty days, but this was largely a sailing passage, for she did not use her engines except for eighty hours, and by the time she had reached the Irish coast she had consumed all her fuel. On her return to America her engines were removed and she became a sailing ship simply. Still, for the first time in history a ship had been driven by steam in the Atlantic, and it showed what could be expected presently.