l Co., which plied between Dundrum on the Co. Down
coast, and Whitehaven; the manager of the company was my friend, and
would allow the steamer to drop me at Peel. It was a memorable crossing,
the weather was _bad_ and so was I. But my journey was successful, and
soon the Peel and North of Ireland Steamship Company, Limited, in which
the "_Diamond King_" was much the largest shareholder, was established,
and on the 26th June, 1889, the first voyage was made from Peel to
Bangor. It was a great event for the quiet little town of Peel. Mr.
Mylchreest had invited all his friends to the inaugural service, in
addition a good number of the public travelled, and the steamer arrived
at Bangor with nearly 300 passengers on board. On the return voyage from
Bangor to Peel the same evening the "_Diamond King_" gave a great dinner,
champagne and speeches freely flowed, and music and dancing enlivened the
proceedings. The service prospered for a time, but the traffic did not
reach expectations. Ultimately it was taken over by the Isle of Man
Steampacket Coy., and after a few years discontinued.

Little more remains to be told of my five and a-half years' sojourn in
the north of Ireland. They were pleasant and profitable years for mind
and body. With health improved, experience gained in _practical_ railway
work, knowledge acquired by personal contact with men of all sorts and
conditions, I felt strong and confident, ready for anything, and, like
Micawber, longed for something to turn up.

Early in October, 1890, Walter Bailey and I took our second Continental
holiday together. We re-visited Paris, but spent most of our three weeks
in a tour through Belgium, finishing up at Brussels. When we reached
London I received a letter from my friend, W. R. Gill, Secretary of
Bailey's railway, the Belfast and Northern Counties. It was to tell me
that the position of Manager of the Midland Great Western Railway of
Ireland had become vacant, and suggested that I should return home by way
of Dublin and call upon the chairman of the company, Sir Ralph Cusack, in
regard to the succession. Now something _had_ turned up, and Bailey
declared I was as good as appointed. At dinner that night we indulged in
a bottle of sparkling wine--in nothing meaner would my warm-hearted
friend drink success to the prospect that had so unexpectedly opened
before me.

The Midland Great Western was the third largest railway in Ireland, nor,
in the matter o