ne that
while they are going ahead all others are standing still: forgetting
that England with her immense resources is much more likely to surpass
them than to be left behind.

We must now examine the question of the proportionate security in steam
boat travelling in the two countries. The following table, extracted
from the Report of the Commissioners on Steam boat Accidents, will show
the casualties which have occurred in this country in _ten_ years.

Abstract of ninety-two Accidents. Table not included.

The principal portion of this loss of life has been occasioned by
vessels having been built for _sale_, and not sea-worthy; an occurrence
too common, I am afraid, in both countries.

The author of "A Voice from America" states the list of steamboat
disasters, on the waters of the United States, for _twelve months_ out
of the years 1837-38, by bursting of boilers, burning, wrecks, etcetera,
besides numerous others of less consequence, comprehends the total loss
of eight vessels and _one thousand and eighty lives_.

So that we have in England, loss in ten years, 634; one year, 63.

In America, loss in one year, 1,080.

The report of Mr Woodbury to Congress is imperfect, which is not to be
wondered at, as it is almost impossible to arrive at the truth; there
is, however, much to be gleaned from it. He states that, since the
employment of steam vessels in the United States, 1,300 have been built,
and of them _two hundred and sixty_ have been lost by accidents.

The greatest loss of life by collision and sinking, was in the Monmouth,
(Indians transporting to the West), in 1837, by which three hundred
lives were lost; Oronoka, by explosion, by which one hundred and thirty
or more lives were lost and Moselle, at Cincinnati, by which from one
hundred to one hundred and twenty lives were lost.

The greatest loss by shipwreck was in the case of the Home, on the coast
of South Carolina, when one hundred lives were lost; the greatest by
fire, the Ben Sherrod, in 1837, by which one hundred and thirty
perished.

The three great casualties which occurred during my stay in America,
were those of the Ben Sherrod, by fire; the Home, by wreck; and the
Moselle, by explosion: and as I have authentic details of them, by
Americans who were on board, or eye-witnesses, I shall lay them before
my readers. The reader will observe that there is a great difference in
the loss of life mentioned in Mr Woodbury's report and in the