On the 27th of May 1885 Messrs. Ramage and Ferguson, Leith, launched a steel stern paddle-wheel steamer (length, 80 feet; beam, 16 feet; draught, 2 feet 6 inches) fitted with a compound surface condensing engine, cylinders 14 inches by 28 inches by 24 inches stroke, built for Church Missionary Society of London, for running on the river Niger.