smooth water, Mr. Smith then resolved to take his little vessel to the
open sea, and breast the winds and the waves. Accordingly, one Saturday
in the month of September 1837, he proceeded in his miniature boat,
down the river, from Blackwall to Gravesend. There he took a pilot on
board, and went on to Ramsgate. He passed through the Downs, and
reached Dover in safety. A trial of the vessel's performance was made
there in the presence of Mr. Wright, the banker, and Mr. Peake, the
civil engineer. From Dover the vessel went on to Folkestone and Hythe,
encountering severe weather. Nevertheless, the boat behaved admirably,
and attained a speed of over seven miles an hour.

Though the weather had become stormy and boisterous, the little vessel
nevertheless set out on her return voyage to London. Crowds of people
assembled to witness her departure, and many nautical men watched her
progress with solicitude as she steamed through the waves under the
steep cliffs of the South Foreland. The courage of the undertaking, and
the unexpected good performance of the little vessel, rendered her an
object of great interest and excitement as she "screwed" her way along
the coast.

The tiny vessel reached her destination in safety. Surely the
difficulty of a testing trial, although with a model screw, had at
length been overcome. But no! The paddle still possessed the
ascendency; and a thousand interests--invested capital, use and wont,
and conservative instincts--all stood in the way.

Some years before--indeed, about the time that Smith took out his
patent--Captain Ericsson, the Swede, invented a screw propeller. Smith
took out his patent in May, 1836; and Ericsson in the following July.
Ericsson was a born inventor. While a boy in Sweden, he made saw mills
and pumping engines, with tools invented by himself. He learnt to
draw, and his mechanical career began. When only twelve years old, he
was appointed a cadet in the Swedish corps of mechanical engineers, and
in the following year he was put in charge of a section of the Gotha
Ship Canal, then under construction. Arrived at manhood, Ericsson went
over to England, the great centre of mechanical industry. He was then
twenty-three years old. He entered into partnership with John
Braithwaite, and with him constructed the Novelty, which took part in
the locomotive competition at Rainhill on the 6th October, 1829. The
prize was awarded to Stephenson's Rocket on the 14th; but