in sen- tences that show a stern repression of the pride that must have made his nerves dance, speaks of the achieve- ment of his cherished plans. He states, briefly, that he has returned from Albany, and modestly mentions his hope that "such boats may be rendered of great importance to my country. ' ' He then proceeds to the statement of facts regarding his voyage. I left New York on Monday at one o'clock, and arrived at Clermont, the seat of Chancellor Livingston, at one o'clock on Tuesday — time, twenty-four hours: distance, one hundred and ten miles. On Wednesday, I departed from the Chancellor's at nine in the morning, and arrived at Albany at five in the afternoon — distance, forty miles; time, eight hours. The sum is one hundred and fifty miles in thirty-two hours, equal to near five miles an hour. Digitized by Microsoft® 126 The Hudson River On Thursday, at nine o'clock in the morning, I left Albany, and arrived at the Chancellor's at six in the evening: I started from thence at seven, and arrived at New York at four in the afternoon — time, thirty hours; space run through, one hundred and fifty miles; equal to five miles an hour. Throughout my whole way, both going and returning, the wind was ahead; no advantage could be derived from my sails : the whole has, there- fore, been performed by the power of the steam-engine. I am sir, your obedient servant, Robert Fulton. One frightened spectator of Fulton's experiment described the contrivance as " the Devil in a sawmill ' ' — a not inapt comparison. The invited guests who stood upon the deck of the first of all successful steamboats as it snorted and puffed and clattered on its way up the river, must have been prepared for any emergency. We can imagine the more timorous ardently wishing themselves on shore again, and feeling that they had indeed taken their lives in their hands. The use of fat pine wood for fuel made a particularly impressive spectacle when night overtook the voyagers, for the sparks flew in a ceaseless stream and warranted the statement that " It was a monster, moving on the river, defying wind and tide, and breathing flames and smoke. ' ' ^ Such was the progenitor of all the steam-craft in the world, and this the death-warrant to the fleets of sails that used to gladden the bosom of the Hudson. True, the execution of the warrant was delayed for more than half a century, or rather was accomplished by insensible degrees, so that no definite date, can be assigned to it — but accomplished it finally is. Digitized by Microsoft® Fulton and the Hudson River Steamboat 127 When the saiHng vessels had resigned their passen- ger service, as well as much of the freight traffic, to the new-fangled fire-eaters that infested the river, a class of boats developed that never had their like on earth before and probably never will again. They came by the scores, monopolising the business until the advent of the railway. They were built for speed and were "CAR OF NEPTUNE," 1808 barbaric in their gorgeous display of gingerbread and gold. The taste and temperament — in a word, the personality — of the average American citizen of ante- bellum times was made concrete in the Hudson River steamboat. It somehow suggested the man who might buy an onyx mantel-piece for the satisfaction of putting his feet on it. Those great, resplendent, costly, com- fortless, tasteless vessels, overloaded with ornament and magnificently vulgar, were the pride of the towns from which they hailed, and each boat had its retinue of eager partisans, always ready to engage in a wordy Digitized by Microsoft® 128 The Hudson River warfare concerning the respective merits of their favourite and its rivals. The first seven steamboats built to run upon the Hudson were the Clermont, North River, Car of Nep- tune, Hope, Perseverance, Paragon, and Richmond. Of these, one was completed in 1807, two in 1808 and 1809, respectively, three in 181 1, and one in 1813. At first, "paragon," 181 1 the rates of fare were such as to be prohibitive to any but travellers of means, though the accommodations were hardly such as would be considered "palatial" by the tourist of latter days. The advertisement of distances, time, and charges, was as follows: From New York to Newburg $3. Time 14 hours " " Poughkeepsie 4. " 17 " ' Esopus 5. " 20 " Hudson 5^. " 30 " " " Albany 7. " 36 " Digitized by Microsoft® Fulton and the Hudson River Steamboat 129 In an advertisement, published in 1808, the time- table for the boat is supplemented by the following caution : As