9 THE SEA. 



he had made such propositions; but no one was then willing to afford this aid to his 

 enterprise. 



" In the spring- of 1807, the first Fulton boat built in America was launched from 

 the ship-yards of Charles Brown, on the East River. The engine from England was put 

 on board of her; in August she was completed, and was moved by her machinery from 

 her birth-place to the Jersey shore. Mr. Livingston and Mr. Fulton had invited many 

 of their friends to witness the first trial. Nothing could exceed the surprise and admiration 

 of all who witnessed the experiment. The minds of the most incredulous were changed 

 in a few minutes. Before the boat had made the progress of a quarter of a mile, the 

 greatest unbeliever must have been converted. The man who, while he looked on the 

 expensive machine, thanked his stars that he had more wisdom than to waste his money 

 on such idle schemes, changed the expression of his features as the boat moved from the 

 wharf and gained her speed; his complacent smile gradually stiffened into an expression 

 of wonder. The jeers of the ignorant, who had neither sense nor feeling enough to 

 suppress their contemptuous ridicule and rude jokes, were silenced for a moment by a 

 vulgar astonishment, which deprived them of the power of utterance, till the triumph of 

 genius extorted from the incredulous multitude which crowded the shores shouts and 

 exclamations of congratulation and applause." 



There can be no doubt that Fulton derived his general plan from the experiments of 

 Symington. While that engineer was conducting his experiments under the patronage 

 of Lord Dundas, a stranger came to the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal and 

 requested an interview, announcing himself as Mr. Fulton, of the United States, whither 

 he intended to return, and expressing a desire to see Mr. Symington's boat and machinery, 

 and to procure some information of the principles on which it was moved, before he left 

 Europe. He remarked that, however beneficial the invention might be to Great Britain, 

 it would be of more importance to North America, considering the numerous navigable 

 rivers and lakes of that continent, and the facility for procuring timber for building vessels 

 and supplying them with fuel ; that the usefulness of steam-vessels in a mercantile point 

 of view could not fail to attract the attention of every observer; and that, if he were 

 allowed to carry the plan to the United States, it would be advantageous to Mr. Symington, 

 as, if his engagements would permit, the constructing or superintending the construction 

 of such vessels would naturally devolve upon him. Mr. Symington, in compliance with 

 the stranger's request, caused the engine-fire to be lighted, and the machinery put in 

 motion. Several persons entered the boat, and along with Mr. Fulton were carried from 

 where she then lay to Lock No. 16 on the Forth and Clyde Canal, about four miles west, 

 and returned to the starting-place in one hour and twenty minutes, being at the rate of 

 six miles an hour, to the astonishment of Mr. Fulton and the other gentlemen. Mr. 

 Fulton obtained leave to take notes and sketches regarding the boat and engine, "but 

 he never afterwards communicated with Mr. Symington/"* He, it has been shown, 

 almost immediately afterwards ordered a marine engine from Messrs. Boulton and Watt, 

 o Soho, near Birmingham. This engine reached America before the Clermont, which had 



* Vide " Bowie on Steam Navigation; " and the works of Lindsay and "VVoodcroft., already quoted 



