138 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

spread the fumes of the kilns. In the succeeding month of
November I commenced the battery by constructing boxes of the
dimensions of the parapet, six feet high by seven in thickness,
into which boxes were poured the tapia composition, consisting
of equal parts of lime, raw shells, and sand and water sufficient
to form a species of paste, or batter, as the negroes term it.

At the close of this month of November a large Spanish ship
called the Bilboa was cast away on Cape Fear in a storm. It
was alleged by the crew, who were brought by Pilot Davis to
my quarters, that the ship was laden with sugar, and that there
was much specie in the run; that the captain and mate had died
at sea, and that having no navigator on board they had put the
ship before the wind and run her on shore near the cape. There
were twenty-one in this crew, a villainous looking set of raseals,
that I had no doubt they were. Lieutenant Fergus detained
them in the block-house at the fort until the collector sent in-
spectors to conduct the crew to Charleston, where the ship was
known to some merchant. These men all had more or less of
dollars in their red woolen sashes tied around their waists. On
their arrival in Charleston they were detained some time, but
no proof could be found against them and they went free. The
pilots and others were for some time after this exploring the
remains of the wreck, but nothing was found among the drift
save spars and rigging.

FIRST STEAMBOAT ON CAPE FEAR RIVER.

Let us contrast the swift steamer Wilmington with the primi-
tive example of former days—let us turn back for three-quarters
of a century, when the town of Wilmington contained only a
tenth of its present population, and recall an incident, related to
the writer by the late Col. J. G. Burr, which created the great-
est excitement at the time, and which was the occasion of the

wildest exuberance of feeling among the usually staid inhabi-
tants of the town—the arrival of the first steamboat in the Cape

Fear River. A joint stock company had been formed for the
purpose of having a steamer built to ply between Wilmington
and Smithville or Wilmington and Fayetteville. Capt. Otway
Burns, of privateer Snap-Dragon fame during the War of 1812,
was the contractor. The boat was built at Beaufort, where he
resided. When the company was informed that the steamer was

Harly Years 139

finished and ready for delivery, they dispatched an experienced
sea captain to take command and bring her to her destined port.
Expectations were on tiptoe after the departure of the captain;
a feverish excitement existed in the community, which daily
increased, as nothing was heard from him for a time, owing to
the irregularity of the mails; but early one morning this anxiety
broke into the wildest enthusiasm when it was announced that
the Prometheus was in the river and had turned the Dram Tree.
Bells were rung, cannon fired, and the entire population, with-
out regard to age, sex, or color, thronged the wharves to welcome
her arrival. The tide was at the ebb, and the struggle between
the advancing steamer and the fierce current was a desperate
one; for she panted fearfully, as though wind-blown and ex-
hausted. She could be seen in the distance, enveloped in smoke,
and the scream of her high-pressure engine reverberated through
the woods, while she slowly but surely crept along. As she
neared Market Dock, where the steamer Wilmington is at pres-
ent moored, the captain called through his speaking-trumpet to
the engineer below: “Give it to her, Snyder’; and while Sny-
der gave her all the steam she could bear, the laboring Prome-
theus snorted by, amid the cheers of the excited multitude. In
those days the river traffic was sustained by sailing sloops and
small schooners, with limited passenger accommodations and less
comfort. The schedule time to Smithville, was four hours, wind
and weather permitting, and the fare was one dollar each way.

NotrrE.—Steamboats were used on the Cape Fear very soon after their
introduction. On October 16, 1818, the Henrietta began to run regu-
larly between Wilmington and Fayetteville, and in April, 1819, Presi-

dent Monroe was carried on the Prometheus from Wilmington to Smith-
ville. The Prometheus was probably on the river long before 1819.

THE DISASTROUS YEAR OF 1819.

The growth of Wilmington was naturally slow, notwithstand-
ing the energy of the inhabitants. Indeed, because of the con-
stant exodus of North Carolinians to the new country at the
West and South, the population of the State hardly increased
at all during the early years of the last century. The popula-
tion of New Hanover County in 1810 was 11,465, and in 1820
it had fallen off to 10,866. In 1820 the population of Wil-
mington was, whites, 1,098, slaves, 1,433, free negroes, 102—a
total of 2,633.