HOLMES--_The Steam Boat_.


My first stage, in proceeding to the interior of the country, was to
Albany, 160 miles north of New York. To effect this, I took passage, on
board a splendidly-equipped steamer, called the _Narraganset_, and
esteemed at the time the swiftest boat on the Hudson River. I must
confess I was rather timid when I did so, for the reckless manner in
which the crack boats are run, in order to maintain their character for
celerity, is proverbial, and, as may be supposed, is little consonant
with safe travelling. The almost constant recurrence of steam-boat
explosions and consequent sacrifice of life, reports of which are daily
to be seen in the newspapers, weighed somewhat heavily on my mind, and
the latent fear was not lessened by seeing four barrels of pitch rolled
on board, the very moment I set foot on the deck of the _Narraganset_. I
had to console myself, however, as I best could under the circumstances,
and trust to Providence; but had it not been for the payment of my fare,
which had previously been arranged, and its inevitable loss if I stopped
behind, I believe I should have declined the passage, from my horror of
a race. Although, before the boat got under weigh, my lurking fears of
explosion were great, they were much enhanced just after starting, in
consequence of an opposition boat being loosed from her moorings at the
same minute that our vessel got clear of the levee. This accounted for
the barrels of pitch I had seen on deck, the heads of which were knocked
out just as we entered the Hudson, and a portion of the contents thrown
with the fuel into the roaring furnaces; this powerful generator of
caloric of course gave increased rapidity to the motion of the engines,
and in a couple of hours we left our opponent far behind.

It is remarkable that, although the Americans, as a people, travel