Island coast. The successful establishment of steam as a means of
conveying a vessel across the Atlantic did not come until the spring of
1838, when, on the same day, April 23rd, two ships from England reached
New York. They were the "Sirius," which had sailed from Cork, Ireland,
April 4th, and the "Great Western," which had left Bristol April 8th.
The following year marked the founding of the Cunard Line.

About the same time began the famous Clippers, which carried
triumphantly the American flag to every corner of the Seven Seas. They
were at first small, swift vessels of from six hundred to nine hundred
tons, and designed for the China tea trade. Later came the "Challenge,"
of two thousand tons, and the "Invincible," of two thousand one hundred
and fifty tons. "That clipper epoch," said a writer in "Harper's
Magazine" for January, 1884, "was an epoch to be proud of; and we were
proud of it. The New York newspapers abounded in such headlines as
these: 'Quickest Trip on Record,' 'Shortest Passage to San Francisco,'
'Unparalleled Speed,' 'Quickest Voyage Yet,' 'A Clipper as is a
Clipper,' 'Extraordinary Dispatch,' 'The Quickest Voyage to China,' 'The
Contest of the Clippers,' 'Great Passage from San Francisco,' 'Race
Round the World.'" Runs of three hundred and even three hundred and
thirty miles a day were not uncommon feats of those clipper ships, a
rate of speed far surpassing the achievement of the steam-propelled
vessels of the period.

When Charles Dickens first came to New York, in 1842, it was after a
transatlantic journey that had landed him at Boston. There is extant a
picture of the cabin that he occupied on the "Britannia" on the trip
across that throws an interesting light on the limitations and
inconveniences to which early Fifth Avenue was subjected when it visited
the old world. Leaving Boston on a February afternoon, Dickens proceeded