CHAPTER XV. EXPERIENCE BY WATER.

Shooting Sea-birds — Walking on the Water — A Screw being loose — The Author nearly drowned — Ad­ven­ture in the Thames Tunnel — Descent in a Diving-bell — Plan for Sub­ma­rine Nav­i­ga­tion.

THE grounds surrounding my father’s house, near Teignmouth, extended to the sea. The cliffs, though lofty, admitted at one point of a descent to the beach, of which I very frequently availed myself for the purpose of bathing. One Christmas when I was about sixteen I determined to see if I could manage a gun. I accordingly took my father’s fowling-piece, and climbing with it down to the beach, I began to look about for the large sea-birds which I thought I might have a chance of hitting.

I fired several charges in vain. At last, however, I was fortunate enough to hit a sea-bird called a diver; but it fell at some distance into the sea: I had no dog to get it out for me; the sea was rough, and no boat was within reach; also it was snowing.

So I took advantage of a slight recess in the rock to protect my clothes from the snow, undressed, and swam out after my game, which I succeeded in capturing. The next day, having got the cook to roast it, I tried to eat it; but this was by no means an agreeable task, so for the future I left the sea-birds to the quiet possession of their own dominion. {206}

〈WALKING IN THE WATER.〉

Shortly after this, whilst residing on the beautiful banks of the Dart, I constantly indulged in swimming in its waters. One day an idea struck me, that it was possible, by the aid of some simple mechanism, to walk upon the water, or at least to keep in a vertical position, and have head, shoulders, and arms above water.

My plan was to attach to each foot two boards closely connected together by hinges themselves fixed to the sole of the shoe. My theory was, that in lifting up my leg, as in the act of walking, the two boards would close up towards each other; whilst on pushing down my foot, the water would rush between the boards, cause them to open out into a flat surface, and thus offer greater resistance to my sinking in the water.

I took a pair of boots for my experiment, and cutting up a couple of old useless volumes with very thick binding, I fixed the boards by hinges in the way I proposed. I placed some obstacle between the two flaps of each book to prevent them from approaching too nearly to each other so as to impede their opening by the pressure of the water.

I now went down to the river, and thus prepared, walked into the water. I then struck out to swim as usual, and found little difficulty. Only it seemed necessary to keep the feet farther apart. I now tried the grand experiment. For a time, by active exertion of my legs, I kept my head and shoulders above water and sometimes also my arms. I was now floating down the river with the receding tide, sustained in a vertical position with a very slight exertion of force.