She crossed from Quebec to Gravesend
in 1833. The next were the convincing tests that settled for the
Admiralty the question of transatlantic mail service by steamship
instead of sailing packet. These were the voyages out and back of the
_Sirius_ and the _Great Western_ in 1838.
The _Sirius_ had been in service between London and Cork. The _Great
Western_ was new, and was the first steamship to be specially
constructed for the trade between England and the United States. Both
were much larger than their three predecessors in steam transatlantic
ventures, and better equipped. The _Sirius_ started out with ninety-four
passengers, on the fourth of April, 1838, and reached New York on the
twenty-first, a passage of seventeen days. The _Great Western_, also
with a full complement of passengers, left three days after the
_Sirius_, sailing from Bristol, and swung into New York harbor on the
twenty-third, making her passage in two days' less time than her rival.
Both were hailed in New York with "immense acclamation." They sailed on
their homeward voyage in May, six days apart, and made the return
passage respectively in sixteen and fourteen days. The _Great Western_
on her second homeward voyage beat all records, making the run in twelve
days and fourteen hours, and "bringing with her the advices of the
fastest American sailing-ships which had started from New York long
before her.
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