(237.)

Steam-boats were introduced on the Mississippi about the year 1812, the period of their first introduction in Europe; and their increase has been rapid beyond all precedent. In the year 1831 there were one hundred and ninety-eight steamers plying on its waters; and the number in 1837 amounted to nearly four hundred. These vessels are built chiefly on the banks of the Ohio, at the towns of Pittsburg and Cincinnati, at distances of about two thousand miles from the mouth of the river they are intended to navigate.