A VESSEL OF A NEW CONSTRUCTION, WHICH DRAWS LESS WATER THAN ANY OTHER VESSEL OF THE SAME DIMENSIONS, WHICH CANNOT FOUNDER AT SEA, AND WHICH IS PUT IN MOTION IN CALMS AND LIGHT WINDS BY A METHOD NEVER BEFORE PRACTISED
Year: 1796

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PATRICK
MILLER, of Dalswinton, North Britain, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Third day of May, in the thirty-sixth year of His reign,
give and grant unto me, the said Patrick Miller, His especial licence that
I, the said Patrick Miller, during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention and Discovery of "A VESSEL OF A NEW
CONSTRUCTION, WHICH DRAWS LESS WATER THAN ANY OTHER VESSEL OF THE SAME
DIMENSIONS, WHICH CANNOT FOUNDER AT SEA, AND WHICH IS PUT IN MOTION IN
CALMS AND LIGHT WINDS BY A METHOD NEVER BEFORE PRACTISED;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Patrick
Miller, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to cause a par-
ticular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within one calendar month after the date of the said recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Patrick Miller, do hereby declare that my said Invention and discovery in
described in manner following, that is to say :-

page_text: The said vessel is kept float, without the aid of its sides, solely by the
buoyancy of its bottom, which is flat, the bottom never being so deeply
immersed as to bring the upper surface thereof on a level with the water,
such vessels not being constructed for the purpose of carrying cargoes, but for
that of carrying passengers, with the necessary stores and provisions; and as
these vessels are not kept afloat by the aid of their sides, but by the buoyancy
of their bottom, as above described, they cannot sink, and therefore pumps are
not required, nor are they in any respect necessary for the preservation of such
vessels. The said vessel is put in motion during calms and against light
winds by means of wheels; these wheels project beyond the sides of the
vessel, and are wrought by means of capsterns. The number and the dimen-
sions of the wheels depend upon the length of the vessel; these wheels are
built with eight arms, which consist entirely of plank. Sliders are used to
work, and to keep the vessel to windward when under sail. These sliders are
placed in the centre of the vessel from stern to stern; they are made of plank,
and the number and dimensions must depend on the length of the vessel; and
they are raised and let down, either by the hand or by means of a purchase.
according to the size of the vessel. Vessels of this construction draw water
in proportion to their dimensions, as follows: A vessel of forty feet in length,
and from thirteen to nineteen feet in breadth, will draw from thirteen to
sixteen inches of water; one of fifty feet in length, and from seventeen to
twenty-four feet in breadth, will draw from fifteen to eighteen inches of water;
one sixty feet long, and from twenty to twenty-eight feet broad, will draw from
eighteen to twenty-one inches of water; one seventy feet long, and from
twenty-three to thirty-two feet broad, will draw from twenty-one to twenty-
four inches of water; one eighty feet long, and from twenty-seven to thirty-
seven feet brond, will draw from twenty-four to twenty-seven inches of water;
one ninety feet long, and from thirty to forty-two feet broad, will draw from
twenty-seven to thirty inches of water; one of one hundred feet in length,
and from thirty-three to forty-seven feet in breadth, will draw from thirty to
thirty-three inches of water. As from the principle upon which this vessel
is constructed she cannot sink, the Invention must prové a means of saving
many lives; and as it will give more room and height between the decks than
any vessel of the same dimensions of another construction, it must add greatly
to the comfort and accommodation of persons at sea of all descriptions. It is
expected that from these advantages a more general and friendly intercourse
amongst nations will take place, which will have the effect to diffuse knowledge
and to remove national prejudices, thereby promoting the general welfare of
mankind. At present it would be altogether improper to give any description

page_text: of ships of greater dimensions, lest it should be converted to a purpose very
lifferent from that intended by the Inventor.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and scal, this Nine-
teenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand seven
hundred and ninety-six, and of the reign of King George the Third
the thirty-sixth year.
Scaled and delivered, being first duly stamped,
before and in the presence of,
Witness.
Witness.
FRA SHORTT.
ROB. SPALDING.
F. MILLER. (L.S.)
Francis Shortt, Writer in Dumfries head Burgh, of the County of Dumfries, in
North Britain, maketh oath and saith, That he did see Patrick Miller, Esquire,
in the deed poll hereunto annexed mentioned and described, sign, seal, and,
as his act and deed, in due form of law, deliver the said deed poll in presence
of Robert Spalding, of Dumfries aforesaid, Writer and Notary Public, and
that the names "P. Miller" appearing to be sett and subscribed at the foot
of the said deed poll as the party executing the same, and Rob. Spalding and
Fra Shortt sett and subscribed to the said deed poll as witnesses attesting the
execution of the same, are of the respective proper handswriting of the said
Patrick Miller, Robert Spalding, and this Deponent,