Page:History of Hudson County and of the Old Village of Bergen.djvu/46

38 Bergen in 1841

her many and vast petticoats defeated the river's passionate attempt to sink them.

As traffic increased, rowboats were supplemented, though not driven out, by sailing craft of a type known as periagua—a word presenting such difficulties to the casual spellers of the time that nearly every reference in early print enriches us with a different version from "peraga" to "pettiaugre." They were built of white-wood, modeled largely on the plan of the dugout, and in time were made large enough to carry horses and carriages.

Early in 1800 the ferrymen installed "horse boats" propelled by horse-driven machinery. They held their own for many years after the Albany Gazette announced that "The North River Steam Boat (Robert Fulton's "Clermont") will leave Paulus Hook on the 4th of September (1807), at nine o'clock in the evening. Provisions, good berths, and accomodationsaccommodations [sic] are furnished. The charge for each passenger is as