The pleasure of historical research, aimed at a narrow area of lake navigation, allows one to observe the Larian society at different times. In the history of paddle steamers naturally man always plays the central role. Captains who, with skill and courage, have sometimes faced dangerous navigational situations, sailors who from carefree boys turned into selfless servants of the Company which employed them and sometimes even became heroes. Int he late Nineteenth Century the result was also a generation of technically and aesthetically refined vessels. Interest about the past arises always from concern for the present: looking to the future of those who live, or just occasionally frequent, the land of the Lario.
