142 ALL AFLOAT 



decided her owners to sell out next spring for 

 less than a third of her original cost. She was 

 then degraded for a time into a local tug or 

 sometimes an excursion boat. But presently 

 she was sent down to Boston, where the band 

 at Fort Independence played her in to the tune 

 of ' God Save the King,' because she was the 

 first of all steamers to enter a seaport of the 

 United States under the Union Jack. 



Ill luck pursued her new owners, who, on 

 her return to Quebec, decided to send her 

 to England for sale. She left Quebec on 

 August 5, 1833, coaled at Pictou, which lies 

 on the Gulf side of Nova Scotia, and took 

 her departure from there on the 18th, for her 

 epoch-making voyage, with the following most 

 prosaic clearance: 'Royal William, 363 tons. 

 36 men. John M'Dougall, master. Bound to 

 London. British. Cargo : 254 chaldrons of 

 coals [nearly 300 tons], a box of stuffed birds, 

 and six spars, produce of this province. One 

 box and one trunk, household furniture and a 

 harp, all British, and seven passengers.' The 

 fare was fixed at £20, ' not including wines.' 



The voyage soon became eventful. Nearly 

 three hundred tons of coal was a heavy con- 

 centrated cargo for the tremendous storm she 

 encountered on the Grand Banks of Newfound- 



