While Rumsey and Fitch were making their boats in America, European inventors were not idle. On the contrary they were so very active that they almost won the honor of making the first successful boat. One of these, William Symington, an Englishman, built a boat that may, with much justice, be called the first practical steamboat that was ever launched. This was the _Charlotte Dundas_ (Fig. 16) which made its trial trip on the Clyde and Firth Canal in 1802. On the _Charlotte_ was a _paddle-wheel_ instead of Fitch's two sets of paddles. The wheel was placed at the rear of the boat and was drawn by means of a crank which was turned by a rod attached to the piston-rod. Watt and his co-workers, a few years before, had shown how the steam-engine could be made to turn a wheel and Symington in the construction of his boat put this principle to good use. The _Charlotte_ did so well that the Duke of Bridgewater ordered eight more boats like her to be built for use on the canal. Symington was elated for he thought he had at last made a successful steamboat, that is, a steamboat that would give to its owner a profit; but he was doomed to disappointment for the owners of the canal refused to allow steamboats to be employed upon it, and worse than this the duke soon died and the inventor's financial support was gone. The _Charlotte_ was taken off the canal and laid in a creek where she fell to pieces. The really successful steamboat had not yet been built. It was to be built first where it was needed most, and that was in America. It was built by a man who kept his eyes on Rumsey and Fitch and Symington, and made the best of what he saw. As all the world knows, this was Robert Fulton. In August of 1807 Fulton's steamboat the _Clermont_ (Fig. 17) made a trip on the Hudson River from New York to Albany, a distance of 150 miles, in thirty-two hours, and returned in thirty hours. Fulton advertised for passengers, and his boat was soon crowded. "The _Clermont_," says an English writer, "was the steamboat that commenced and continued to run for practical purposes, and for the remuneration of her owners." Here was the boat that was wanted--one that was financially profitable. [Illustration: FIG. 17.--FULTON'S STEAMBOAT, CLERMONT.] [Illustration: FIG. 18.--THE BOAT OF STEVENS.]