steam-ships to navigate during stormy weather, than that of the main ocean.

In December, 1825, I left the Gulf of St. Lawrence on board of a merchant ship; the weather was so tempestuous that the topsails were close-reefed half the passage; and in fifteen days we were safely at anchor in the Cove of Cork. I left Cork in January for Liverpool, in a steam-ship, commanded by an experienced officer, who was for some time on board of one of our ships of war on Lake Ontario. We were in the Channel during a very heavy gale, and a more abrupt difficult sea for a ship to plough through, I never witnessed. The long high swell of the Atlantic, which I had just crossed in such bad weather, was nothing to it; yet the steam-ship worked over it with amazing ease. The commander agreed with me in considering it much more dangerous than that of the ocean; and that the sea on Lake Ontario, or on the St. Lawrence, was also more difficult for steam-vessels than that of the Atlantic.

The commander of one of the steam-packets that ply between Dublin and Liverpool has crossed the Atlantic more than thirty times. I have been over with him as passenger several times to Dublin; and twice, during winter, he declared to me that he never witnessed worse weather, nor such an abrupt dangerous sea on the Atlantic, as we then experienced. I believe most naval officers will bear me out in these observations. Masters of merchant ships, few of whom know much either of the arts or sciences, cherish a strong prejudice against steam-vessels ; yet they readily admit that the sea rises more dangerously, during tempestuous weather, in the Irish

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and English Channels, in the German Ocean, and in the Gulf and River of St. Lawrence, than it does in the Atlantic. Those seas are, however, all safely navigated with steam-ships; and why not cross the Atlantic also by the power of steam ?

The legislatures of all the North American colonies voted certain sums to encourage intercolonial steam navigation. The House of Assembly of Lower Canada voted 3000l. to persons or companies, who would cause a steam-vessel to be regularly navigated between the ports of St. Lawrence and Halifax for four years. The House of Assembly of Nova Scotia voted 1500l. to encourage the same object. The Assembly of New Brunswick voted 200l. the first year, and 100l. each, for two succeeding years, provided that the steam-packets should touch at Miramichi; and the Legislature of Prince Edward Island voted also a sum on similar conditions.

There is good reason to believe that, if transatlantic steam-ships were established, the colonial legislatures would grant sums in aid of an undertaking which promises such great advantages and benefits. If the postmaster-general were applied to, it is also reasonable to suppose that he would direct contracts to be made for the steam-ships which navigated the Atlantic to carry the mails, in preference to their being conveyed by the dangerous uncomfortable packets that sail at present between Falmouth and Halifax.

The excellent coal which abounds in Cape Breton and Nova Scotia is not only admirably adapted for the furnaces of steam-engines, but it affords an advantage which the United States do not at present possess. This coal has lately been carried, for the use of steam

vessels, to New York and some other places. The following extracts from a report, published at New York, will show how much that article, which the nearest points of our colonies afford, is appreciated by the Americans:

"Since the introduction of steam-boats, pine-wood has rapidly disappeared from the shores of our navigable streams, and the scarcity of this article has necessarily enhanced its value. All who have reflected upon the subject have long since been satisfied that the time is not far distant when coal must be substituted for wood; and the question has been asked, what coal can be produced which will ignite sufficiently easy, to produce steam as fast as required? Repeated experiments have been made with the anthracite coal, but without success. Within the last month, the Sydney coal from Nova Scotia has attracted the attention of the navigators of our steam-boats, and the result of their investigations is such as cannot fail to give satisfaction to all who wish to see navigation by steam prosecuted at the present reasonable rates.

"The first experiments were made in the small steam-boat used by the Dry Dock Company, in towing vessels to their railway. We were of the number who witnessed the result of this experiment, and were astonished to find that, without any alteration in the furnace which is used for wood, a fire was kindled of this coal with a common lamp, which, in about half an hour, enabled the boat to get under way, and then supplied as much steam as could be used. It was believed by all, even the most sanguine, that, with an ordinary wood furnace, the draught would not be sufficient to generate steam as fast as required, and their astonishment and gratification at the result may be easily imagined.

" In consequence of the first attempt, the agent of the Mining Company in this city proposed to Captain Bunker, of the Benjamin Franklin, to take in a supply of coal, and use it, instead of wood, on his trip to Providence and back. He did so, and became so satisfied, not only of its practical usefulness, but of its superiority over wood, that he endeavoured at once to have his furnace altered, for the purpose of using it to more advantage.

"The facility with which this coal ignites, and its consequent capabilities of producing steam, having been fairly tested, the next question is, What are the advantages to be gained by introducing it into general use? We answer, first, the great saving in room occupied by the fuel; second, by the saving in the cost of fuel; third, by the saving in the weight of fuel; fourth, by the saving in labour in handling the fuel and feeding the furnace; and, fifth, by the absence of sparks and cinders, by which the clothes of passengers are destroyed, and the awnings of our boats set on fire.

"We give the following as the result of the different experiments which have been made: —

" One chaldron of Sydney coal measures 44 cubic feet.

"One cord of pine-wood measures 128 cubic feet. "One chaldron of coal will jet as much water into steam in the same space of time, as three cords of pine-wood. Supposing the Benjamin Franklin to require 45 cords of wood per trip to and from Providence, the space thus occupied by wood is 5760 cubic feet. Fifteen chaldrons of Sydney coal will produce the same quantity of steam in the same period of time, and occupy but 660 cubic feet, or about one ninth of the space required for the wood.

"The wholesale price of Sydney coal, New York measure, is, per chaldron, 9 dollars.

"The wholesale price of 3 cords of wood, at 4 dollars, is 12 dollars.

"This will show a saving in the cost of fuel in favour of coal of 335 per cent., or of 55 dollars on every trip to Providence.

"One chaldron of Sydney coal, New York measure, weighs 1 ton, 2 cwt. and 1 qr.

"One cord of pine-wood weighs 1 ton, 2 cwt. and 3 qrs.

"The weight of the Franklin's wood, therefore, is 51 tons, 5 cwt. If she used coal, her fuel would weigh 16 tons, 13 cwt. and 3 qrs.

"The coal, being less bulky, will require a less number of persons to handle it; and the saving in this respect, added to the safety of awnings and the clothes of passengers from sparks, will be far from inconsiderable."

It was the intention of the projected company, that the main line of steam-vessels should run only between Valentia, on the coast of Ireland, and Cape Canseau, in Nova Scotia. On examining the matter, however, more fully, it will be found that neither of those places are the proper points of intercourse. Cape Canseau is a rocky island; the country within it is broken up with islets, rocks, and water, for many miles; and it has no communication, for a great distance, with the continent of America, except by water. Valentia is an excellent harbour, and a very proper place for steam-vessels to touch at, as