' and in this Mr. Ekenhead and myself both succeeded, 'the one in an hour and ten minutes, and the other ' in one hour and five minutes. The tide was not in 'our favour; on the contrary, the great difficulty was 'to bear up against the current, which, so far from 'helping us into the Asiatic side, set us down right 'towards the Archipelago. Neither Mr. Ekenhead, 'myself, nor, I will venture to add, any person on 'board the frigate, from Captain Bathurst downwards, ' had any notion of a difference of the current on the 'Asiatic side, of which Mr. Turner speaks. I never 'heard of it till this moment, or I would have taken 'the other course. Lieutenant Ekenhead's sole mo'tive and mine also, for setting out from the European 'side was, that the little cape above Sestos was a 'more prominent starting place, and the frigate, 'which lay below, close under the Asiatic castle, 'formed a better point of view for us to swim towards; ' and, in fact, we landed immediately below it.

Mr. Turner says, "Whatever is thrown into the 'stream on this part of the European bank must arrive at the Asiatic shore." This is so far from being the case, that it must arrive in the Archipelago, if left to the current, although a strong wind in the Asiatic direction might have such an effect 'occasionally.

Mr. Turner attempted the passage from the 'Asiatic side, and failed: "After five-and-twenty 'minutes, in which he did not advance a hundred 'yards, he gave it up from complete exhaustion." This is very possible, and might have occurred to him just as readily on the European side. He 'should have set out a couple of miles higher, and 'could then have come out below the European

castle. I particularly stated, and Mr. Hobhouse has 'done so also, that we were obliged to make the real passage of one mile extend to between three and four, owing to the force of the stream.

I can

assure Mr. Turner, that his success would have given me great pleasure, as it would have added one ' more instance to the proofs of the probability. It is 'not quite fair in him to infer, that because he failed, 'Leander could not succeed. There are still four instances on record: a Neapolitan, a young Jew, Mr. 'Ekenhead, and myself; the two last done in the presence of hundreds of English witnesses.

'With regard to the difference of the current, I per'ceived none; it is favourable to the swimmer on neither side, but may be stemmed by plunging into 'the sea, a considerable way above the opposite point of the coast which the swimmer wishes to make, but still bearing up against it; it is strong, but if you 'calculate well, you may reach land. My own ex'perience and that of others bids, me pronounce the passage of Leander perfectly practicable. Any young man, in good and tolerable skill in swimming, might 'succeed in it from either side. I was three hours in swimming across the Tagus, which is much more 'hazardous, being two hours longer than the Hellespont. Of what may be done in swimming, I will ' mention one more instance. In 1818, the Chevalier Mengaldo (a gentleman of Bassano), a good swim'mer, wished to swim with my friend Mr. Alexander 'Scott and myself. As he seemed particularly anxious ' on the subject, we indulged him. We all three " started from the island of the Lido and swam to Ve'nice. At the entrance of the Grand Canal, Scott and 'I were a good way ahead, and we saw no more of

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our foreign friend, which, however, was of no consequence, as there was a gondola to hold his clothes ' and pick him up. Scott swam on till past the Rialto, 'where he got out, less from fatigue than from chill, having been four hours in the water, without rest or stay, except what is to be obtained by floating on 'one's back-this being the condition of our performance. I continued my course on to Santa Chiara, comprising the whole of the Grand Canal (besides 'the distance from the Lido), and got out where the Laguna once more opens to Fusina. I had been in 'the water, by my watch, without help or rest, and 'never touching ground or boat, four hours and twenty 'minutes. To this match, and during the greater part ' of its performance, Mr. Hoppner, the Consul-general, 'was witness, and it is well known to many others. 'Mr. Turner can easily verify the fact, if he thinks it 'worth while, by referring to Mr. Hoppner. The dis'tance we could not accurately ascertain; it was of 'course considerable.

'I crossed the Hellespont in one hour and ten mi'nutes only. I am now ten years older in time, and ' twenty in constitution, than I was when I passed the 'Dardanelles, and yet two years ago I was capable of swimming four hours and twenty minutes; and I am sure that I could have continued two hours longer, though I had on a pair of trousers, an accoutrement 'which by no means assists the performance. My two 'companions were also four hours in the water. Mengaldo might be about thirty years of age; Scott about six-and-twenty.

With this experience in swimming at different periods of life, not only upon the SPOT, but elsewhere, ' of various persons, what is there to make me doubt