434 STEAM NAVIGATION. has rapidly disappeared from the shores of our navi¬ gable streams, and the scarcity of this article has necessarily enhanced its value. All who have reflect¬ ed upon the subject, have long since been satisfied that the time is not far distant when coal must be substituted for wood ; and the question has been asked, what coal can be produced which will ignite sufficiently easy, to produce steam as fast as required? Repeated experiments have been made with the An¬ thracite coal, but without success. Within the last month, the Sydney coal from Nova Scotia has attract¬ ed the attention of the navigators of our steam-boats, and the result of their investigations is such as cannot fail to give satisfaction to all who wish to see navigation by steam prosecuted at the present reasonable rates. " The first experiments were made in the small steam-boat used by the Dry Dock Company , in tow¬ ing vessels to their railway. We were of the num¬ ber who witnessed the result of this experiment, and were astonished to find that, without any alteration in the furnace which is used for wood, a fire was kindled of this coal with a common lamp, which, in about half an hour, enabled the boat to get under way, and then supplied as much steam as could be used. It was believed by all, even the most san¬ guine, that, with an ordinary wood furnace, the draught would not be sufficient to generate steam as fast as required, and their astonishment and gratifi¬ cation at the result may be easily imagined. M In consequence of the first attempt, the agent of