Robert Fulton, in conjunction with Chancellor Livingston of America,
planned, built, and launched a boat in the spring of 1807, which they
named the _Clermont_. It was propelled by steam, and averaged the rate
of five miles an hour on its first voyage from New York to Albany, a
distance of nearly one hundred and fifty miles.
All discoveries and novelties, great and small, are treated with
ridicule at first by the mass of mankind, so it is not a matter of
wonder that the crowds which flocked to the wharf to see the _Clermont_
start on her first trip were somewhat satirical and jocose in their
remarks. But when the steam was turned on, and they heard the first of
that series of snorts that was destined ere long to shake the trembling
air of land and sea, and saw the great, uncouth paddle-wheels revolve
powerfully in the water and churn it into foam, a shout, tinged
doubtless with prophetic fervour, greeted the triumphant engineer as his
little steamboat darted from the shore.
Colden, in his Life of Fulton, speaks thus of the _Clermont's_ first
voyage:--
"She excited the astonishment of the inhabitants of the shores of the
Hudson, many of whom had not heard even of an engine, much less of a
steamboat. There were many descriptions of the effects of her first
appearance upon the people of the banks of the river.
"Some of these were ridiculous, but some of them were of such a
character as nothing but an object of real grandeur could have excited.
She was described by some, who had indistinctly seen her passing in the
night, as a monster moving on the waters, defying the winds and tide and
breathing flames and smoke! She had the most terrific appearance from
other vessels which were navigating the river when she was making her
passage. The first steamboat (as others yet do) used dry pine wood for
fuel, which sends forth a column of ignited vapour many feet above the
flue, and, whenever the fire is stirred, a galaxy of sparks fly off,
which, in the night, have a very brilliant and beautiful appearance.
"This uncommon light first attracted the attention of the crews of other
vessels. Notwithstanding the wind and tide, which were adverse to its
approach, they saw with astonishment that it was rapidly coming towards
them; and when it came so near that the noise of the machinery and
paddles was heard, the crews--if what was said in the newspapers of the
time be true--in some instances shrank beneath their decks from the
terrific sight, and left their vessels to go on shore; whilst others
prostrated themselves, and besought Providence to protect them from the
approaches of the horrible monster which was marching on the tide, and
lighting its path by the fires that it vomited!" The _Clermont_ became
a regular passenger boat on the Hudson; and the progress of steam
navigation continued to advance, until nearly all the navigable rivers
of the world, and the great ocean itself, were covered with these
clanking ships of commerce, which have added more to the comfort, the
wealth, and the power of man--the power of doing good as well as evil--
than the feeble human mind can conceive.