But the _Clermont_ had a greater task in the breaking down of prejudice than ever she had in propelling herself through the smooth waters of the Hudson on her round trips between New York and Albany. The first steamer to make an ocean voyage was a boat named the _Phœnix_, built in 1809. She was driven under her own power from Hoboken, New Jersey, on the Hudson River, opposite New York City, to Philadelphia. So rapid was the increase in the number of steamboats that by 1814 a contributor to the columns of the _Gentlemen’s Magazine_ wrote that “most of the principal rivers in North America are navigated by steamboats. One of them passes 2,000 miles on the great river Mississippi in twenty-one days, at the rate of five miles an hour against the descending current,” which, if true, tells a dramatic story of the rapid development of this new apparatus. During the next decade a number of boats and small ships were built, in the hulls of which steam engines were placed, and on the masts of which the ever-present sails were spread to guard against what were, evidently, the inevitable breakdowns. But another step in the development of steamships was to be made. Up to 1818 steam-driven ships had been used only on inland or on coastal waters. But in that year a 380-ton full-rigged ship was built in New York City and was equipped with paddle-wheels operated by a steam engine of seventy-two horse power. (Some say this engine developed ninety horse power but the measurement of the power of engines was then at best an inaccurate science.) After a number of trials, this ship, which was named the _Savannah_, crossed the Atlantic in 1819 taking twenty-five days from Savannah, Georgia, to Liverpool. The passage attracted much attention, even though the ship had been under power for only a part of the time. This did not prove, however, that her engines were not capable of more extended operation. They were stopped for the excellent reason that the fuel ran out. While this voyage created widespread interest it also suggested to the wits of the day the necessity for a fleet of sailing ships to accompany the steamers of the future in order to keep them supplied with fuel. Later, when the _Savannah_ returned to America, her engines were removed, but she had served a useful turn, and she is accepted as the first steam-driven ship to cross the Atlantic. With this mark to shoot at, the progress of steamships became more rapid, although for sixty years most of them that were intended for deep-sea work carried masts and spars from which sails could be spread. [Illustration: ROBERT FULTON’S _CLERMONT_ _The first completely successful steamboat ever built. Others built before the_ Clermont _were made to go, but this ship carried passengers for years._]