Steam Power hi mmntaining a Ferj-fj. (JT 



Dundee boats draw above five feet, and those at Burntisland 

 and Queensferry towards six feet respectively, when laden. A 

 very powerful engine, however, when embarked by itself, may, 

 I am confident, be made to swim in four feet of less; and a 

 passage- vessel, which is only to be towed, is in fact the lighter, 

 the drier, and the safer, the lower and flatter she is kept. A log 

 of wood will drag heavy and upset in the water, but a plank 

 will not. The Yarmouth Keels,, which bring stores and provi- 

 sions out to the Roads, are open boat?, sunk to the gunwale 

 when their cargo is on board ; yet no accident ever occurs to 

 them. The Campeche Droguers are in like manner squai'e 

 boxes, with scarce a sharp end to go foremost ; yet they ioo, load 

 gunwale deep, bring cargoes out through heavy rollers to ships 

 four leagues off, and survive all the apparent dangers of their 

 passage. And men-of-war''s fiats are currently loaded with 

 troops till scarce a few inches are above the water, and with- 

 out risk. The truth is, that flat-bottomed boats are so buoy- 

 ant, that to superficial observers, who see them move with every 

 surface wave, they appear dangerous craft ; but in the smooth 

 wake of a tug they would be steady ; in all circumstances they 

 are steady relatively to the water in which they float ; and they 

 are the safest of all boats : — and all for the best reasons. Their 

 bearings are so low, and if their centre of gravity is low also, 

 the lever which acts on them is so short, that scarcely any impulse 

 can sink one side or raise the other. They cover so much 

 water also relatively to the materials employed in their construc- 

 tion, that their specific gravity is small, and scarcely any cargo 

 or any accident can carry them down. And they are by far the 

 best boats to take the ground, as every seaman knows. 



8. Where open piers are to be approached, on which occasion- 

 ially a high wind and sea directly beat, this system seems also 

 peculiarly to apply. In such circumstances, and within certain 

 limits, sailing-boats may approach the piers, and land one cargo ; 

 but they cannot receive another, because they cannot easily re- 

 turn. Steam- boats, on the other hand, cannot approach at all, 

 so great is the danger of the piers catching under their paddle- 

 boxes, and causing great damage. Passage- vessels alone, which 

 have been towed across by powerful steam-tugs, may be veered 

 in under almost any circumstances, and again towed off with aiv 

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