252 On low Steam Poiver to Vessels, instead of Sails, [Oct. 



ally would scarcely have a cause of a moment's anxiety ia a whole voy- 

 age, and even in approaching land they would be almost as much at ease 

 as in the open sea. 



6th. — From the absence of all strain from the masts and sails, the 

 vessel would scarcely ever require repair, or be in danger of leaking, 

 and it must consequent!}'- be very seldom that she would require to be 

 docked ; for she would never be exposed to the trial which the passen- 

 ger steamers worked at high speeds undergo, in being forced with 

 gi-eat power of steam directly through the heaviest seas at 5 or 6 knots 

 an hour. 



7th. — Such a vessel would often obtain a freight of unusual value, on 

 account of her speed and certainty, which might make it worth a mer- 

 chant's while in many cases to charter her above the ordinary rate of 

 freight. And, indeed, it is not improbable that such a vessel would 

 regularly command a higher freight than sailing vessels. 



8th. — She would frequently obtain employment as a tug or to assist 

 a vessel in distress, which she could do where sailing vessels would be 

 of no use, and so become entitled to salvage. 



9th. — As the time she would require for any voyage would be almost 

 certain to a d^y, she would often obtain freight or charter for a short 

 trip, while waiting for cargo for a longer one ; which a sailing vessel 

 could not venture to do, from the uncertainty of the time of her ab- 

 sence from port. The steamer would in this way be incomparably 

 more handy than a sailing vessel, and would in fact probably do half 

 as much again in the same time. For in a great prop ortion of mercantile 

 transactions certainty as to time must cau e a preference. 



10th. — In the case of emigrant ships, which generally have more spare 

 room in their hold than would carry the engine and fuel ; the speed, 

 the unencumbered state of the upper deck, the certainty as to time, the 

 small number of the crew, the vessel being almost always upright, these 

 things must give her a prodigious advantage over sailing vessels. 



11th.— The same reasons as mentioned in the last paragraph, would al- 

 ways secure the preference of such vessels for the convey^ance of troops, 

 and indeed those advantages would be so considerable as probably to 

 secure a higher rate of charter as transports. 



12th— Is it too much to suppose that if commerce were generally carried 

 on in these vessels, the loss of life and property would be reduced to one- 

 fourth of what it is at present. Of vessels lost at present perhaps nine- 

 tenths are lost upon rocks or on the coast, but of all such how very few 

 there are that would not have been able to keep clear of the land, if 

 they had had a moderate power of steam on board, instead of being de- 



