appropriate, as the sailor king had been the first member of any royal
house to set foot on Canadian soil, which he did at Quebec in 1787, as
an officer in H.M.S. _Pegasus_. The guard and band from the 32nd Foot
were drawn up near the slip. The gunners of the Royal Artillery were
waiting to fire the salute from the new citadel, which, with the walls,
was nearing completion, after the Imperial government had spent
thirty-five million dollars in carrying out the plans approved by
Wellington. Lady Aylmer took the bottle of wine, which was wreathed in
a garland of flowers, and, throwing it against the bows, pronounced the
historic formula: 'God bless the _Royal William_ and all who sail in
her.' Then, amid the crash of arms and music, the roaring of
artillery, and the enthusiastic cheers of all the people, the stately
vessel took the water, to begin a career the like of which no other
Canadian vessel ever equalled before that time or since.

Her engines, which developed more than two hundred horse-power, were
made by Bennett and Henderson in Montreal and sent to meet {141} her a
few miles below the city, as the vessel towing 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.

[Illustration: THE _ROYAL WILLIAM_ From the original painting in
possession of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec]

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 harassed by quarantine that she
had to be laid up there. The losses of that disastrous season {