The highest conception of the iron sailing ship, as built by the firm, was probably embodied in the _Lord of the Isles_, completed in 1856. She had a length between perpendiculars of 185 ft., a breadth of 29 ft.--the proportion being thus 6.4 of length to 1 of beam--with a depth of hold of 18 ft. Her registered tonnage was 691 tons, and her builders' measurement 770 tons. Although a fine-ended ship she carried a large cargo on board, and made her first trip to Sydney in seventy days, which had not then been surpassed.[15] She made the passage from Shanghai to London in eighty-seven days, with 1030 tons of tea on board. In one trip she averaged 320 nautical miles for five consecutive days. When engaged in the celebrated race for the delivery of the season's teas from Foo-chow-foo to London, in 1856, the _Lord of the Isles_ beat two of the fastest American clippers, of almost twice her tonnage. She "delivered her cargo without one spot of damage, and thus British ships regained their ascendency in the trade which their American rivals had far too long monopolised."[16] From that time the British sailing ships gradually gained a complete superiority over the American vessels, and carried all before them, until they in turn were supplanted by the British steamship. From time to time an occasional sailing ship was constructed of steel; the latest, the _Archibald Russell_, is illustrated. Built for Messrs. John Hardie and Company, this vessel has a length, between perpendiculars, of 278 ft., a beam of 43 ft., and a depth, moulded, of 26 ft., and carries 3930 tons of deadweight cargo on a draught of 21 ft. 7-1/2 in. But less than 1 per cent. of ships now constructed depend upon the unbought but uncertain winds, and then only for special trades. On regular routes the steamer is now almost paramount, and it was, therefore, appropriate in the highest degree that the first vessels to steam regularly to China, _viâ_ the Cape, should, like the _Lord of the Isles_, be built by the Scotts; but that belongs to another story. [Illustration: decoration] FOOTNOTES: [2] Campbell's "Historical Sketches of the Town and Harbour of Greenock," vol. i., page 18. [3] Sir Nathaniel Barnaby's "Naval Development in the Century," page 23. [4] Brown's "Early Annals of Greenock," page 136 [5] Williamson's "Memorials of James Watt," 1856. [6] "The Gazetteer of Scotland," 1842, vol. i., page 709. [7] "Journals of the House of Commons," 1792, page 357. [8] Holmes' "Ancient and Modern Ships," page 152. [9] Williamson's "Old Greenock," page 148. [10] Campbell's "Historical Sketches of the Town and Harbour of Greenock," page 68. [11] The following figures are taken for 1701 from "Chambers' Estimates," pages 68, 69, and 90; for 1793 from Lindsay's "History of Merchant Shipping"; for 1803 from "Porter's Progress of the Nation," page 626; and for 1901 from the "Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom."