When Livingston went to France in 1801, an enthusiast for steam navigation, and, what was more important, an enthusiast of considerable means, Fulton, whom he there met and financed, was stimulated to fresh exertions. By 1803 a boat to their joint account was built, 70 feet long and 8 feet beam. With this it was proposed to experiment on the Seine. But the machinery, which is said to have been made by Périer, who opposed the Marquis de Jouffroy, was too heavy for the hull. The night before the trial trip was to be made was stormy: the boat broke in half and sank. Notwithstanding this blow to their hopes the partners proceeded with their attempts. The machinery was recovered and found to be practically uninjured, and the hull was rebuilt more strongly. The trial trip took place in August 1803, when the boat made four and a half miles an hour. This was a very moderate speed and was disappointing to all concerned. Nevertheless a voyage by a steam-ship had been made, and it is strange that very little notice was taken of the event in France. Livingston wrote home to America and described it enthusiastically, and he and Fulton determined to build a boat for American waters as soon as Fulton should return thither. Shortly after this experiment Fulton visited Symington, who, as will be seen in the next chapter, had succeeded, with the assistance of Lord Dundas, in starting a little steamer, the _Charlotte Dundas_, on the Clyde as early as 1802. While this boat was being used on the Forth and Clyde Canal, Fulton introduced himself to Symington, whom he accompanied on a trip in the boat, the voyage being made solely on Fulton’s account.[15] The American took copious notes in a memorandum book and, to quote from Symington’s narrative, “after putting several pointed questions respecting the general construction and effect of the machine, which I answered in a most explicit manner, he jotted down particularly everything then described, with his own remarks upon the boat while moving with him on board along the canal; but he seems to have been altogether forgetful of this, as notwithstanding his fair promises, I never heard anything more of him until reading in a newspaper an account of his death.” [15] Knight’s “Cyclopædia.” [Illustration: JOHN STEVENS’ “PHŒNIX,” 1807.]