We know more of the life of Nasmyth than of any of the other tool builders. Not only did Smiles give an account of him in “Industrial Biography,”[81] but fortunately Nasmyth was induced in later life to write his recollections, which were published in the form of an autobiography, edited by Smiles.[82] With the exception of Sir William Fairbairn, he is the only great engineer who has done this. His intimate knowledge of the rise of tool building, the distinguished part he himself had in it, and his keen and generous appreciation of others, make his record valuable. We have already quoted him in connection with Maudslay, and wherever possible will let him tell his own story. [81] “Industrial Biography,” Chap. XV. Boston, 1864. [82] “James Nasmyth, Engineer, An Autobiography,” edited by Samuel Smiles. London, 1883. Unlike most of the early mechanics, James Nasmyth came from a family of distinction dating from the thirteenth century. They lost their property in the wars of the Covenanters and his direct ancestors took refuge in Edinburgh, leaving their impress on the city as the architects and builders of many of its most famous and beautiful buildings. Alexander Nasmyth, the father of James, was a well-known artist, the founder of the Scotch School of Landscape Painting, and a friend of Burns, Raeburn and Sir Walter Scott. He was a landscape architect and enough of an engineer to be included in Walker’s engraving of “The Eminent Men of Science Living in 1807-1808,” reproduced in Fig. 8. He invented the “bow-string” truss in 1794, the first one of which was erected over a deep ravine in the island of St. Helena, and also the setting of rivets by pressure instead of hammering. This last, by the way, was the result of trying to do a surreptitious job on Sunday without outraging the fearsome Scotch “Sawbath.” Alexander Nasmyth was one of the six men on the first trip made on Dalswinton Loch, October 14, 1788, by the steamboat built by Symington for Patrick Miller. This was the second trip of a steam-propelled vessel, the first one being that of John Fitch on the Delaware, August 22, 1787. It was an iron boat with double hulls and made about five miles an hour. It barely escaped being the first iron vessel, as Wilkinson’s iron boat on the Severn was launched less than a year before. The picture of this trial trip which has come down to us was made by Alexander Nasmyth at the time.[83] [83] _Ibid._, pp. 28-31.