American inventions and inventors . ere they chose the most convenient place andbuilt their town. Thus these settlers were in the very beginning familiarwith travel by water. But what a poor, inconvenient meansof travel it w^as! The Jamestown colonists, one hundred andfive in number, were tossed upon the stormy ocean for morethan four months, enduring all the hardships of a severe win-ter in vessels that to-day would seldom venture upon theocean, even in coastwise trade. Compare the two monthsand more of life on the Mayflower, where the passengers werecrowded into the closest quarters, with th
American inventions and inventors . ere they chose the most convenient place andbuilt their town. Thus these settlers were in the very beginning familiarwith travel by water. But what a poor, inconvenient meansof travel it w^as! The Jamestown colonists, one hundred andfive in number, were tossed upon the stormy ocean for morethan four months, enduring all the hardships of a severe win-ter in vessels that to-day would seldom venture upon theocean, even in coastwise trade. Compare the two monthsand more of life on the Mayflower, where the passengers werecrowded into the closest quarters, with the short six or sevendays trip to or from England to-day on the ocean steamers. TRAVEL—BY WATER. almost where travelers find comforts and conveniencesgreater than those they are accustomed to at home. Although the emigrants suffered greatly in these voyagesacross the Atlantic Ocean, the day of the return of the ves-sels to England was a sad one. When the last glimpse of thereceding ship had vanished, the homesick watchers realized. PILGRIM EXILES. as never before their isolation—their separation from ever)--body and everything in which they were interested. Untilvessels should again arrive from across the ocean they wouldbe thrown entirely upon their own resources. The settlerswere thus very dependent upon the ships that crossed theAtlantic so infrequently and with such difficulty. Soon after the settlement, however, some of the coloniesbegan to build vessels of their own. The forests providedlumber in great quantity and of the best quality. The first 196 AMERICAN INVENTIONS AND INVENTORS. vessel to be built by the Massachusetts Bay Colony waslaunched at Medford the next year after the settlement ofBoston. This small vessel was owned by Governor Winthropand was appropriately called the Blessing of the Bay. Thesame year a Dutch ship, twenty times as large, was con-structed at New Amsterdam. A large part of the colonial shipbuilding was confined toNew England, the Blessing of
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