The Spring of 1815 was very backward. The Basin had been frozen up all winter, and was not free from ice until the month of June. On the first of June the harbor was full of ice so as for an hour or two to impede the progress of the ferry boats. It was partially collected from loose ice which came down the Narrows from the Basin, and some drift ice which was brought in in the night previously from the sea by the tide and southerly wind. There were two ferries at this time. The upper ferry was conducted by John Skerry, whose memory is still cherished by many, both in Dartmouth and Halifax, as one of the most obliging and civil men of his day. Skerry's wharf in Dartmouth was a short distance south of the steam boat wharf. The other ferry was the property of Mr. James Creighton, known as the Lower Ferry, situate to the south of Mott's Factory. It was conducted for Mr. Creighton by deputy and was afterwards held under lease by Joseph Findlay, the last man who ran a ferry boat with sails and oars in Halifax Harbor. These ferry boats were furnished with a lug sail and two and sometimes four oars. They were large clumsy boats, and occupied some thirty or forty minutes in making the passage across the harbor. There were no regular trips at appointed hours. When the boat arrived at either side the ferryman blew his horn (a conch shell) and would not start again until he had a full freight of passengers. The sound of the conch and the cry of "Over! Over!" was the signal to go on board. The boats for both ferries landed at the Market Slip at Halifax. An act of the Legislature had been obtained this session to incorporate a Steamboat Company with an exclusive privilege of the ferry between Halifax and Dartmouth for 25 years. They could not succeed in getting up a company, steam navigation being then in its infancy, and in the following year had the act amended to permit them to run a boat by horses to be called the Teamboat. This boat consisted of two boats or hulls united by a platform with a paddle between the boats. The deck was surmounted by a round house which contained a large cogwheel, arranged horizontally inside the round house, to which were attached 8 or 9 horses harnessed to iron stanchions coming down from the wheel. As the horses moved round, the wheel turned a crank which moved the paddle. It required about twenty minutes for this boat to reach Dartmouth from Halifax. It was considered an immense improvement on the old ferry boat arrangement, and the additional accommodation for cattle, carriages and horses was a great boon to the country people as well as to the citizens of Halifax, who heretofore had been compelled to employ Skerry's scow when it was found necessary to carry cattle or carriages from one side of the harbor to the other. The first trip of the Teamboat was made on the 8th November, 1816. The following year an outrage was committed which caused much excitement and feeling in the town. All the eight