Well did Robert Stephenson, the famous English engineer, say
that, in boldness of design and difficulty of execution, this
Pennsylvania scheme of mastering the Alleghanies could be
compared with no modern triumph short of the feats performed at
the Simplon Pass and Mont Cenis. Before long this line of
communication became a very popular thoroughfare; even Charles
Dickens "heartily enjoyed" it--in retrospect--and left
interesting impressions of his journey over it:

"Even the running up, bare-necked, at five o'clock in the morning
from the tainted cabin to the dirty deck; scooping up the icy
water, plunging one's head into it, and drawing it out, all fresh
and glowing with the cold; was a good thing. The fast, brisk walk
upon the towing-path, between that time and breakfast, when every
vein and artery seemed to tingle with health; the exquisite
beauty of the opening day, when light came gleaming off from
everything; the lazy motion of the boat, when one lay idly on the
deck, looking through, rather than at, the deep blue sky; the
gliding on, at night, so noiselessly, past frowning hills, sullen
with dark trees, and sometimes angry in one red burning spot high
up, where unseen men lay crouching round a fire; the shining out
of the bright stars, undisturbed by noise of wheels or steam, or
any other sound than the liquid rippling of the water as the boat
went on; all these were pure delights."*

* "American Notes" (Gadshill Edition), pp. 180-181.


Dickens also thus graphically depicts the unique experience of