in North America. 493 



grandeur perhaps exceeding any one of the other three, has 

 performed her trip from Albany to New York in the short 

 time of 12 hours, which is at the rate of 13 miles to the hour; 

 both wind and tide, of course, were in her favour. * 



Steam-boats were unknown on this Continent before the 

 time of Robert Fulton ; indeed, it is a common opinion of the 

 Americans, who are conspicuously tenacious of the rights of 

 their citizens, that he not only introduced them here, but also 

 was the first to apply steam for maritime purposes. This, 

 however, is pretty certain, that the ardour and speculation of 

 steam navigation arose in a great measure from his genius 

 and enterprise ; and, if he were not the inventor (the question 

 is now pretty well settled in favour of Mr. Henry Bell, a 

 Scotchman), his name will ever be associated with the honour 

 of this great discovery. 



As I do not intend to trouble you often with double 

 postage, I shall reserve for another letter what I had con- 

 templated should be in this. In my next I shall give you 

 a sketch of the western or Jersey side of the river, which, I 

 flatter myself, will contain some interesting particulars. 



I have the honour to be yours, most faithfully, 

 Hudson River, May^ 1823. T. W. 



Letter II. 



My dear B. — The clock of St. John's could be faintly 

 heard : we were just escaping from the smoke and noise of 

 the city, and cutting the waters of this majestic river, as it was 

 striking the hour of six in the evening. The clouds were 

 seen in tumult, rapidly rolling from the west into dark masses, 

 which hung, in awful confusion, above us ; thunder was heard 

 at a distance ; and the lightning's flash flew fierce and fre- 

 quent through the atmosphere : every body on board was 

 convinced the evening foreboded a stormy night, and some 

 of our passengers, who had collected themselves into groups 

 upon deck, appeared evidently alarmed. The stories of 

 wrecks, and of lives that perished near this place, were once 

 more brought back to the memory. On our weather quarter 

 I perceived an old woman, with grave and solemn cast, in the 

 act of repeating some disastrous tale. I approached nearer, 

 and found her engaging her hearers, whose minds no doubt 

 were now well prepared for the reception of sad and mourn- 

 ful story, with an account of a sloop, which,, during a late 



■ * This distance, although the above is certainly very fast sailing, and, I 

 might add, unprecedented in this country, has been lately done in ten hours 

 bv a steam-boat called " The North America." 



K K 3 



