STEAMERS 141 



her a few miles below the city, as the vessel tow- 

 ing her up could not stem St Mary's Current. 

 Her hull was that of a regular sea-going 

 steamer, thoroughly fit to go foreign, and not 

 the hull of an ordinary sailing ship, like the 

 Savannah, with paddles hung over the sides 

 in a calm. Goudie's master, Simmons of 

 Greenock, had built four steamers to cross 

 the Irish Sea ; and Goudie probably followed 

 his master's practice when he gave the Royal 

 William two deep ' scoops ' to receive the 

 paddle-boxes nearer the bows than the stern. 

 The tonnage by builder's measurement was 

 1370, though by net capacity of burden only 

 363. The length over all was 176 feet, on the 

 keel 146. Including the paddle-boxes the 

 breadth was 44 feet ; and, as each box was 8 

 feet broad, there were 28 feet clear between 

 them. The depth of hold was 17 feet 9 inches, 

 the draught 14 feet. The rig was that of a 

 three-masted topsail schooner. There were 

 fifty passenger berths and a good saloon. 



The three trips between Quebec and Halifax 

 in 1831 were most successful. But 1832 was 

 the year of the great cholera, especially in 

 Quebec, and the Royal William was so har- 

 assed by quarantine that she had to be laid 

 up there. The losses of that disastrous season 



