STEAMERS 145 



Spain ; the first naval steamer that ever fired 

 a shot in action ; and the first vessel in the 

 world that ever crossed an ocean under steam 

 alone. 



The next step in the history of Canadian 

 steamers is not concerned with a ship but with 

 a man, Sir Hugh Allan, who, though the 

 greatest, was not the first of the pioneers. 

 The Cunard brothers preceded the Allan 

 brothers in establishing a transatlantic line. 

 Samuel Cunard had been one of the share- 

 holders in the Royal William. He had wonder- 

 ful powers of organization. He knew the 

 shipping trade as very few have ever known 

 it; and his name has long since become 

 historical in this connection. The first 

 ' Cunarder ' to arrive in Canada was the 

 Britannia, 1154 tons, built on the Clyde, and 

 engined there by Napier. From that time on 

 till Confederation, that is, from 1840 to 1867, 

 Cunarders ran from Liverpool to Halifax. 

 But Halifax was always treated as a port of 

 call. The American ports were the real 

 destination. And after 1867 the Cunarders 

 became practically an Anglo-American, not 

 an Anglo-Canadian, line. During their con- 

 nection with Canada, partially renewed in the 

 present century, the Cunards never did any- 



A.A. K 



