Having discovered the defects of the machinery Fulton returned in 1806 to America, where, with money furnished by his friend Livingston, he began to construct another steamboat which he called the Clermont, after the name of Livingston's home on the Hudson. This boat was 130 feet long and 18 feet wide, with a mast and a sail, and on each side a wheel 15 feet in diameter, fully exposed to view. One morning in August, 1807, a throng of expectant people gathered on the banks of the North River at New York, to see the trial of the Clermont. Everybody was looking for failure. People had all along spoken of Fulton as a crack-brained dreamer, and had called the Clermont "Fulton's Folly." "Of course the thing would not move." "That any man with common-sense might know," they said. So while Fulton was waiting to give the signal to start, these wiseacres were getting ready to jest at his failure. [Illustration: The Clermont.] Finally, at the signal, the Clermont moved slowly, and then stood perfectly still. "Just what I have been saying," said one onlooker with emphasis. "I knew the boat would not go," said another. "Such a thing is impossible," said a third. But they spoke too soon, for after a little adjustment of the machinery, the Clermont steamed proudly up the Hudson. As she continued her journey, all along the river, people who had come from far and near stood watching the strange sight. When the boatmen and sailors on the Hudson, heard the clanking machinery and saw the great sparks of fire and the volumes of dense, black smoke rising out of the funnel, they thought the Clermont was a sea-monster. In their superstitious dread, some of them went ashore, some jumped into the river, and some fell on their knees in fear, believing the day of judgment to be at hand. One old Dutchman told his wife that he had seen the devil coming up the river on a raft. The trip of 150 miles from New York to Albany was made in thirty-two hours. Success had at last rewarded this man of strong common-sense, quiet modesty, and iron will. The Clermont was the first steamboat of practical use ever invented. From that time men saw the immeasurable advantage to trade of steam navigation on lakes and rivers. This was Fulton's last work of great public interest. He died in 1815, having rendered an untold service to the industrial welfare of his country and the world. REVIEW OUTLINE THE PACK-HORSE, THE FLAT BOAT, AND THE NEW PROBLEM. ROBERT FULTON AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL. HIS FOURTH OF JULY SKY ROCKETS. A NEW METHOD OF NAVIGATION. FULTON'S FONDNESS FOR DRAWING AND PAINTING. HE INVENTS THE DIVING-BOAT. FULTON AND LIVINGSTON. A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. "FULTON'S FOLLY" AND HER TRIP UP THE HUDSON. TO THE PUPIL 1. Give an account of Fulton's life at school, and his youthful inventions. 2. Tell about his experience with the diving-boat. 3. What serious accident happened to his boat?