And then came a surprise. In that yard which had been building nothing else but sailing ships since the time of Elizabeth, in that yard where the flower of the British merchant fleet had always been constructed, there was now actually being made a steamer! It seemed incredible, but it was true, and it caused a great sensation at the time. In 1820 had been formed the first steamship company, under the title of the General Steam Navigation Company, and they gave the order for their first steamer to the Blackwall yard of Wigram & Green. This ship was the 401-ton paddler _City of Edinburgh_, for the Edinburgh trade, and she was launched in 1821, the same year as the yard also launched the 1333-ton East Indiaman _Duchess of Atholl_, one of the finest sailing ships of the time. It was significant of the big change that was coming over the Mercantile Marine, though for many a year most of the officers and men heartily despised any one who deserted sail for steam. In the following year this same yard launched the 180-ton paddler _King of the Netherlands_ for the same owners, and in 1823 they built three more steamers of from 244 to 510 tons. The _City of Edinburgh_ had been launched in March, and had caused so much interest that the future William IV and Queen Adelaide went to look over her and were surprised at the magnificence of her passenger accommodation. The engines were of only 100 horse-power, yet the Press at the time referred to them as “extremely powerful.” Then in the following June was launched at Port Glasgow the 420-ton three-masted schooner _James Watt_, which had a long, narrow funnel, about as tall as her mainmast, and a paddle-wheel on either side of the ship driven by engines of the same horse-power as those for the _City of Edinburgh_. The steamship had thus got a good start, though as regards ocean work the engines were auxiliary rather than the main propelling power. In 1825 the 176-ton auxiliary _Falcon_ reached Calcutta via the Cape, and the 470-ton _Enterprise_ made the same voyage in 113 days, but for 103 days she used steam. This was the biggest test which marine machinery had so far endured. It proved a good deal, and therefore it is not surprising that two years later there were eighty steamers classed in Lloyd’s Register, and five years later there were 100. But the Atlantic had not yet been conquered by steam, and when we realise that _Aquitania_ was not in commission until 1914, we can well appreciate the rate of progress that was afterwards made. In 1831 a vessel named the _Royal William_, 176 feet long, was built in Quebec, and fitted with engines made by Boulton & Watt that had been sent across the Atlantic. Two years later this ship crossed the ocean to Cowes, having done the 2500 miles in seventeen days, yet there is some doubt as to whether she used her engines throughout the whole voyage.