The First Steamers 27 



was interesting himself in mechanical 

 propulsion of vessels by means of the 

 hand-driven paddle-wheels. This was 

 Patrick Miller, and he got so interested 

 in the question that he considered 

 whether he could not go a step farther 

 and substitute steam for manual power. 

 In Symington he found a sympathetic 

 listener. So it came about that the latter 

 designed and built an engine which was 

 fitted to a craft 25 ft. long, with a 7 ft. 

 beam. 



The boat was a curious affair, made 

 up of a pair of hulls. How do you sup- 

 pose the paddle-wheels were placed in 

 this curious craft? You would expect 

 them to be fixed one on either side of 

 the double hull, or at least side by side 

 in the space which intervened. Instead of 

 this we find them placed tandem fashion 

 one behind the other. The engine was 

 geared with chains. 



This unique vessel was tried successfully 

 on Dalswinton Loch, and considerably 



