A SWIM ROUND MONT ST. MICHAEL, NORMANDY.
Sir,—On August 22nd, at 5 p.m., on August 28th, at 9 a.m., and on August 29th, at 10 a.m., I achieved in a more successful measure than had hitherto been accomplished the problem of swimming round Mont St. Michael, Normandy, at high water. Previously acquainted with the certainty that an adverse current would at one point or another be met, I pre-arranged, and made three bold attempts, and by going in a certain direction, met with the greatest success at the first essay. The tides that rise and flow against the base of the mount are more insidious and taxing to strike against than those which encircle the Mount of St. Michael, in Cornwall; but then the quality of the sea must be more pure and far more buoyant off the Cornish coast, and freshens to a greater extent the elastic movements of the swimmer. The sea, speaking from experience, does not harass one, swimming in the bay of St. Michael, Normandy, until the "retirage" is met; when all the force that can be exerted is necessarily called forth to prevent being seaward swept.
Yours faithfully,
J. ATWOOD.SLATER
Albi, Tarn, France,
September 7th, 1903.
ARCHITECTURE.
From the PATRIOTE ALBIGEOIS, Sept. 29th, 1903.
Albigeois, vous qui passez fréquemment dans les rues adjacentes à votre cathédrale, n'avez-vous pas remarqué la figure d'un artiste récemment installé, avec son chevalet, auprès du gigantesque monument et mettant toute la science technique de son art à le reproduire exactement.
C'est M. John ATWOOD.SLATER qui avait visité notre cité, il y a quelques années, il avait alors dessiné une belle perspective de Sainte-Cécile qu'il a exposée à l'Académie Royale de Londres. Il a admiré la plupart des cathédrales gothiques de notre pays et, en fin connaisseur, il nous informe que nous possédons un des plus recherchés specimens d'architecture qui existent en France. Quelques-unes de ces cathédrales sont à peine plus merveilleuses, mais il n'en est guère qui se prêtent favorablement comme elle à l'esprit tranquille de dévotion.