On board one of the Florida steamboats, which have to be built with exceedingly light draught to get over the frequent shallows of the rivers, an Englishman accosted the captain with the remark, "I understand, captain, that you think nothing of steaming across a meadow where there's been a heavy fall of dew."
"America To-day, Observations and Reflections"
William Archer
Many a night the girl had lain awake listening to the steamboats as they toiled against the river's current, while horror held her.
"The Crisis, Volume 7"
Winston Churchill
The present output of these mines is about one hundred thousand tons per annum; but under the new arrangements it is expected that this will be raised to seven hundred and fifty thousand tons, so as to supply not only the San Francisco market, but also to deliver the coal at a moderate price at the various points, both on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, reached by the steamboats of the above-mentioned company.
"Two Years in Oregon"
Wallis Nash