A few statistics of the lake-steamboats may not he uninteresting.  They are taken from Mr. Barton’s letter, above referred to.

“The ‘New York Mercantile Advertiser,’ of May—­, 1819, contained the following notice:—­

“’The swift steamboat Walk-in-the-Water is intended to make a voyage early in the summer from Buffalo, on Lake Erie, to Michilimackinac, on Lake Huron, for the conveyance of company.  The trip has so near a resemblance to the famous Argonautic expedition in the heroic ages of Greece, that expectation is quite alive on the subject.  Many of our most distinguished citizens are said to have already engaged their passage for this splendid adventure.’

“Her speed may be judged from the fact that it took her ten days to make the trip from Buffalo to Detroit and back, and the charge was eighteen dollars.

“In 1826 or ’27, the majestic waters of Lake Michigan were first ploughed by steam,—­a boat having that year made an excursion with a pleasure-party to Green Bay.  These pleasure-excursions were annually made by two or three boats, till the year 1832.  This year, the necessities of the Government requiring the transportation of troops and supplies for the Indian war then existing, steamboats were chartered by the Government, and made their first appearance at Chicago, then an open roadstead, in which they were exposed to the full sweep of northerly storms the whole length of Lake Michigan.

“In 1833, eleven steamboats were employed on the lakes, which carried in that year 61,485 passengers, and only two trips were made to Chicago.  Time of the round trip, twenty-five days.

“In 1834, eighteen boats were upon the lakes, and three trips were made to Chicago.  The lake-business now increased so much, that in 1839 a regular line of eight boats was formed to run from Buffalo to Chicago.

“In 1840, the number of steamboats on the lakes was forty-eight.  Cabin-passage from Buffalo to Chicago, twenty dollars.”

About 1850 was the height of steamboat-prosperity on the lakes.  There was at that time a line of sixteen first-class steamers from Buffalo to Chicago, leaving each port twice a day.  The boats were elegantly fitted up, usually carried a band of music, and the table was equal to that of most American hotels.  They usually made the voyage from Buffalo to Chicago in three or four days, and the charge was about ten dollars.  They went crowded with passengers, four or five hundred not being an uncommon number, and their profits must have been large.  The building of railroads from East to West, such as the Michigan Central and Southern lines, and the Lake Shore and Great Western, soon took away the passenger-business, and the propellers could carry freight at lower rates than those expensive side-wheel boats could pretend to do.  So they have gradually disappeared from these waters, until at present their number is very small, compared with what it was ten years ago, while the number of screw-propellers is increasing yearly, as well as that of sail-vessels.