. Wit bought; or, The life and adventures of Robert Merry . av-ing behind him thousands of hearts to mournhis untimely fate. The day after we passed West Point wesaw something coming up the river, paddlingthrough the water, and smoking away at agreat rate. Mat said it must be a Dutchman,and a cousin to our Captain Volcano; butwe were soon told that it was a steamboat! Ihad heard of such a thing, but had neverseen one. There had been a good deal saidin the newspapers about one Robert Fulton,who was trying to make vessels go by fireand water instead of wind. Most peoplethought Fulton either craz
. Wit bought; or, The life and adventures of Robert Merry . av-ing behind him thousands of hearts to mournhis untimely fate. The day after we passed West Point wesaw something coming up the river, paddlingthrough the water, and smoking away at agreat rate. Mat said it must be a Dutchman,and a cousin to our Captain Volcano; butwe were soon told that it was a steamboat! Ihad heard of such a thing, but had neverseen one. There had been a good deal saidin the newspapers about one Robert Fulton,who was trying to make vessels go by fireand water instead of wind. Most peoplethought Fulton either crazy or a fool, to at-tempt so hopeless a task. But Fulton was a great man, whose mindwas set upon a great object. So, letting theworld make itself merry at his expense, hewent calmly and patiently on. If he metwith a difficulty he labored till he overcameit; sneers, scoffs, gibes, could not turn himfrom his purpose. He persevered, and at ROBEET FULTON. Itt last he triumphed. The engine began to turnthe crank, the wheels went round, the pad- ^ < • ~W^ f. dies took hold of the wave, the boat movedforward, and steam navigation was accom-plished. This was periiaps the greatest invention ofmodern times. I am speaking of what hap-pened in 1808. The journey of a week is atpresent but the trip of a day—a voyage oftwo months is bit the passage of a fortnight 116 WIT BOUGHT. It used to be often a fortnights work to gela vessel from New York to Albany ; now asteamboat with five hundred passengers willaccomplish it in twelve hours ! The little steamboat approached us in my life have I felt a deeper excite-ment than at that moment! All the peopleon board our sloop were leaning over theside, straining their eyes to watch this won-der of the water. On she came, cutting thecurrent and seeming like a thing of life,moving by her own power. I have seenother steamboats since; those that were tentimes as large; but never one that touchedmy imagination like that. We passed closeto
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