n
could achieve, was not a disappointment in the undertaking, but merely
an increase of the expense.

So, in respect to tradesmen and laborers, there was an extraordinary
difficulty. Shipwrights had repaired to the lakes, for repelling the
enemy, in such numbers, that, comparatively speaking, few were left on
the seaboard. A large portion of the men who had been engaged in daily
work, had enlisted as soldiers, and had marched under the banners of the
nation to the defense of its rights--yet amidst the scarcity of hands, a
sufficient number were procured for the purpose which the Commissioners
had in charge. An increase of wages was the chief impediment, and this
they were enabled practically to overcome.

By the exemplary combination of diligence and skill, on the part of the
Engineer and Constructors, the business was so accelerated, that the
vessel was launched on the twenty-ninth day of October, amidst the
plaudits of an unusual number of citizens.

Measures were immediately taken to complete her equipment; the boiler,
the engine, and the machinery were put on board with all possible
expedition. Their weight and size far surpassed any thing that had been
witnessed before among us.

The stores of artillery in New York not furnishing the number and kind
of cannon which she was destined to carry, it became necessary to
transport guns from Philadelphia. A prize, taken from the enemy, put
some fit and excellent pieces at the disposal of the Navy Department. To
avoid the danger of capture by the enemy's cruisers, these were carted
over the miry roads of New Jersey. Twenty heavy cannon were thus
conveyed by the strength of horses. Carriages of the most approved model
were constructed, and every thing done to bring her into prompt action,
as an efficient instrument of war.

About this time, an officer, pre-eminent for bravery and discipline,
was commissioned by the government to her command. Prior to this event,
it had been intended by the Commissioners to finish her conformably to
the plan originally submitted to the Executive. She is a structure
resting upon two boats and keels, separated from end to end by a canal
fifteen feet wide, and sixty-six long. One boat contained the caldrons
of copper to prepare her steam. The vast cylinder of iron, with its
piston, levers, and wheels, occupied a part of its fellow; the great
water-wheel revolved in the space between them; the main or gun-deck
supported her armament, and wa