The Looks

    The nick-name of the Steamboat Arabia was The Great White Arabia.  It was a four level boat and was white.  It was 171ft.long and 54ft wide.  It weighed over 400 tons when it was fully loaded, 200 tons unloaded.  The Arabia was an average size for an 1850’s boat (big for a 1840`s boat, small for a 1860`s boat).  The paddle wheels did not go beneath the hull (the hull is the bottom of a boat.) because of shallow waters and rocks, logs, and the junk on the bottom of the river. On the inside of the boat there were 30 cabins each 8ft by 6ft.  The passengers had to share space with animals, cargo, and other people on the lower deck. 

The boat had two tall smoke stacks that blew the smoke out. The smoke stalks were at the front of the boat.  The wood anchor had a rope at the top. The anchor was very heavy.  The boat also had 2 paddle wheels that were each 28 feet tall.  The paddle wheels were at the back part of the boat and one was on each side.  They were powered buy a steam boiler and engine.  The Arabia was a side-wheeler.  They were called that because the paddle wheels were on the side.  The side-wheelers were more maneuverable than sternwheelers.  Then later the sternwheelers became better known than side-wheelers.  Sternwheelers are when the boat has one paddle wheel and it was on the back.  The back of the boat is known as the stern.