"We thus have the tide half the time in favor of the boat and half the
time against her. The boat is 100 feet long, 16 feet wide and 7 feet
deep; the steam engine is of the power of 20 horses; she runs 41/2
miles an hour in still water. Consequently when the tide is 11/2
miles an hour in her favor she runs 53/4 miles an hour. When the
tide is against her she runs 23/4 miles an hour. Thus in theory her
average velocity is 41/4 miles an hour, but in practice we take
advantage of the currents. When they are against us we keep near shore
in the eddies, where the current is weak or the eddy in our favor;
when the tide is in our favor we take the centre of the stream and
draw every advantage from it. In this way our average speed is 5 miles
an hour, and we run to Albany, 160 miles, in about 32 hours." Previous
to the invention of the steamboat there were two modes of conveyance.
One was by the common sloops; they charged 42 francs, and were on the
average four days in making the passage--they have sometimes been as
long as eight days. The dread of such tedious voyages prevented great
numbers of persons from going in sloops.
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