In 1840, the company's first steamship sailed from Liverpool to Boston, Massachusetts, with Cunard and 63 other passengers on board, marking the beginning of regular passenger and cargo service.
Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland.
" Master of the steamship Macedonia, seal-hunter, " was the answer. " We will meet him most probably on the Japan coast. Men call him 'Death' Larsen" .
Whales had been hunted for centuries, but it wasn't until the late 19th century, with the invention of the steamship and the explosive harpoon, that it became clear that humans were about to drive whales to extinction.
He purchased a casket, put it aboard ship, and then made arrangements with the steamship company-in the event of his death-to put his corpse in a freezing compartment and keep it there till the liner returned home.