62 Book of Steamships 



be? We read that " the fine vessel is so 

 large that it is necessary to swing her out 

 into mid-stream and place her passengers 

 aboard from a tender owing to her im- 



mense size." 



Here we mark the introduction of the 

 tender in connection with the sailing of 

 liners. The tenders of to-day are approxi- 

 mately the same size as the Britannia. 



The Britannia accomplished her first 

 voyage in 14 days 8 hours, and she had 

 a rousing reception at Boston the Ameri- 

 can terminal port for the new mail 

 services. 



Four years later the Boston people 

 showed the Britannia practical sympathy 

 by cutting a channel seven miles long for 

 her to proceed to sea, a sharp frost having 

 made her ice-bound on arrival. 



Right from the first the Cunard had 

 been a cautious line, leaving to others the 

 task of experimenting, then building 

 something better if the experiments pro- 

 vided for an advance. I mention this 



