In February, 1860, the Yang-tse was for the first time opened by treaty to the ships of other nations, and the “Scotland,” commanded by Captain A. D. Dundas, R. N., and belonging to W. S. Lindsay, an auxiliary screw steamship of 1,100 tons gross register, was the first foreign merchant vessel which loaded a cargo from Shanghai to Hankow, bringing back teas for transshipment to Europe and America; but it was not until 1863 that any English vessel loaded a cargo direct from Hankow for Great Britain.