In the thirty years from the first commercial British steamer, the _Comet_, there had not been much advance in the steam engine, excepting in size, power, and, perhaps, reliability. Wood had continued to be the constructive material for all but the smallest ships. The size of vessels had grown steadily to the 1848 tons of the West Indian mail liner, which started regular steamship service almost contemporaneously with the inauguration of the Atlantic mail line by the Cunard Company in 1840. Speeds on service, even on the shortest routes, were seldom over 13 knots, and on the long routes under 8 knots. But this was in excess of the average attained by all but exceptionally fast clippers. The Table on the opposite page shows the progress made in thirty years. TABLE I.--EPOCH-MARKING STEAMERS BUILT BY THE SCOTTS, 1819 TO 1841. -----+------------------+--------+---------+-------+------------------ Year.| Name. |Tonnage.| Horse- |Speed | Remarks. | | |power.[A]|(Miles | | | | | per | | | | | Hour).| -----+------------------+--------+---------+-------+------------------ 1819 | _Waterloo_ | 200 | 60 | 9 |Largest steamer of | | | | | 1819. | | | | | 1820 | _Superb_ | 240 | 72 | 9 |Largest steamer of | | | | | 1820. | | | | | 1821 | _Majestic_ | 345 | 100 | 10 |Largest steamer of | | | | | 1821. | | | | | 1835 |_City of Aberdeen_| ... | 200 | 12 |Strongest steamer | | | | | of 1835. | | | | | 1836 | _Jupiter_ | 439 | 210 | 13 |Record speed | | | | | 1837 | _Tagus_ | 709 | 286 | 10 |Largest constructed | | | | | on Clyde, 1837, | | | | | and an early | | | | | P. and O. liner. | | | | | 1839 | _India_ | 1206 | 320 | 10 |First steamer to | | | | | India _viâ_ the | | | | | Cape and the first | | | | | Indian liner. | | | | | 1841 | _Dee_ | 1848 | 450 | 10 |First Royal West | | | | | India Mail liner.