dying art under the famous painter
West, but soon began to devote most of his time and energy to
mechanical problems. Not finding in England as much encouragement as
he had hoped, he went, in 1797, to Paris and, for the next seven
years, lived there in the house of the American Minister, Joel
Barlow.

As soon as he had settled down in France, he offered his plans of a
submarine boat which he called the _Nautilus_ to the French
Government. Though a special commission reported favourably on this
boat, the opposition of the French Minister of the Marine was too
strong to be overcome, even after another commission had approved a
model built by Fulton. In 1800, however, he was successful in
gaining the moral and financial support of Napoleon Bonaparte, then
First Consul of the French Republic.

Fulton immediately proceeded to build the _Nautilus_ and completed
the boat in May, 1801. It was cigar-shaped, about seven feet in
diameter and over twenty-one feet in length. The hull was of copper
strengthened by iron ribs. The most noticeable features were a
collapsible mast and sail and a small conning tower at the forward
end. The boat was propelled by a wheel affixed to the centre of the
stern and worked by a hand-winch. A rudder was used for steering,
and increased stability was gained by a keel which ran the whole
length of the hull.

[Illustration: (C) U. & U.

_A Captured German Fokker Exhibited at the Invalides._]

Soon after completion the boat was taken out for a number of trial
trips all of which were carried out with signal success and finally
culminated, on June 26, 1801, in the successful blowing up of an old
ship furnished by the French Government. Although the _Nautilus_
created a great sensation, popular as well as official interest
began soon to flag. Fulton received no further encouragement and
finally gave up his submarine experiments.

[Illustration: (C) U. & U.

_A British Seaplane with Folding Wings._]

In 1806 he returned to America. By 1814 he had built another
submarine boat which he called the _Mute_. It was, comparatively
speaking, of immense size, being over eighty feet long, twenty-one
feet wide, and fourteen feet deep and accommodating a hundred men.
It was iron-plated on top and derived its peculiar name from the
fact that it was propelled by a noiseless engine. Before its trials
could be completed, Fulton died on February 24, 1815, and no one
seemed to have sufficient interest or faith i