In this table we find, at three periods, the following number of boats, with their tonnage, which have been built, worn out, and lost by disasters, in the west, prior to the year 1849:

Boats built prior to 1849..

1,656

Boats lost by disasters (nearly 44 per cent.)..

736

Of the 765 steam-vessels on the waters of the interior, 164 run on the lakes, and 601 on the rivers.

Of the aggregate tonnage of these 765 steam-vessels of the interior, (viz: 204,725 tons,) 69,165,3 tons is upon the lakes, and 135,559, upon the rivers.

Of the 164 steam-vessels on the lakes, 105 are ordinary steamers, 52 are propellers, and 7 are ferry-boats.

Of the 601 steam-vessels on the rivers, 558 are ordinary steamers, and 43 are ferry-boats.

The average tonnage of all the steam-vessels on the lakes (ferryboats excepted) is 437 tons.

The average tonnage of all the steam-vessels on the rivers (ferryboats excepted) is 23543 tons.

The average tonnage of the ordinary steamers on the lakes is 5036 tons, and that of the propellers 3023 tons.

The average number of persons employed on the ordinary steamers of the lakes is 19 to each; and the number employed on the propellers is 15 to each.

The average number of persons employed on the ordinary steamers of the rivers is 26 to each; the boats of the Ohio basin averaging a

fraction under 26, and those of the Mississippi valley averaging a fraction over 26.

The 7 steam ferry-boats enrolled on the lakes measure 5555 tons; the 43 steam ferry-boats enrolled on the rivers measure 4,1773 tons. Of the 558 ordinary steamers on the rivers, 317 are enrolled in the districts of the Ohio basin, and 241 in those of the Mississippi valley.

Of the 157 ordinary steamers and propellers on the lakes, 31 are enrolled on Lake Champlain, the St. Lawrence, and Lake Ontario; 66 are enrolled on Lake Erie; and 60 at Detroit and on the lakes above. Of the 43 steam ferry-boats on the western rivers, 31 are in the Ohio basin, and 12 in the Mississippi valley.

A remarkable equality is found to exist, at the present time, in the distribution of the steam tonnage of the interior among the several lines of navigation heretofore specified:

The line of the St. Lawrence and the lakes has 69,165 tons of it;
The line of the Mississippi valley has 67,957 tons of it; and
The line of the Ohio basin has 67,6013 tons of it.

The 17,607 persons employed on the steam-vessels of the interior, as officers, crews, &c., are distributed as follows:

On the lakes and the St. Lawrence..

On the Mississippi river and its tributaries.
On the Ohio river and its tributaries.

.2,855

.6,414

.8,338

The tabular views of vessels lost on the waters of the interior, shows a total loss of 118-76 on the rivers, and 42 on the lakes.

Of this whole number, 35 were lost by tempest, 31 by fire, 19 by collision, and 33 by snags. All the losses on the rivers were of the class of boats denominated "ordinary steamers" in this report. Nearly all the losses on the lakes were of sail-vessels, schooners and brigs.

The loss of lives, as shown by same tabular view, amounted to a total of 695 for the year-628 on the rivers, and 67 on the lakes. This statement is probably under the truth, except as to the Cincinnati district, which is thought to have more assigned to it in the table than its real proportion of the fatal calamities of the year. But this information is always difficult to obtain, and can hardly be had in an entirely reliable form without a more determined and longer-continued effort than was possible in the present instance.

GRAND RESULT.

The entire steam-marine of the United States, employed on the coast. and in the interior, separate and combined, is shown in the following tabular view, with the aggregate tonnage thereof, the total number of persons engaged upon the same as officers, crew, &c., and the entire number of passengers, distinguishing between those conveyed upon ferry-boats and those conveyed upon steam-vessels of all other descrip

tions.

The strength of the steam-marine of the United States is thus shown to be comprised in thirteen hundred and ninety vessels, measuring four hundred and seventeen thousand two hundred and twenty-six and tons, and manned by twenty-nine thousand three hundred and seventy

seven men.