Then comes the “carambole,” which consists in the slider sinking down two or three times during his journey, and rising as he reaches its termination; unless, however, he is very careful the weight of his body will drag him down altogether, and he will continue his journey on another portion of his frame, rather than on his feet. But the best accomplishment to be performed on a slide is the game known as “turnpikes.” Two stones or bricks are placed on the slide, with sufficient distance between them for a boy’s foot to pass through. The turnpike, thus roughly made, is to be kept by one of the party. Off start the sliders, taking care to pass through the pike, without displacing or even touching its walls. Woe betide the unlucky wight whose foot infringes this rule! He is instantly turned off the slide, and has to wait until some other incautious player commits a like offence, and is thus compelled to take his place.
Such are a few of the feats performed by adepts in this graceful art. Most lads, however, will be able to invent many more for themselves, and numerous are the sports that can be indulged in.
SWIMMING
Swimming is the most useful of all athletic accomplishments, as by it human life is frequently saved which might have been sacrificed. It is also useful in the development of muscular strength, as well as highly beneficial to the nervous system, and repairs the vital functions when falling into decline. In places near the sea or rivers, to know how to swim is an indispensable accomplishment. The ancients, particularly the Greeks, held the art in such high estimation as to bestow rewards upon the most perfect swimmers.
From the little familiarity with immersion in water which the inhabitants of our over-grown towns and cities possess, a very great proportion of the English population are but little acquainted with the art of swimming, and with the mode in which they should conduct themselves when risk of drowning presents itself. The English, above all other persons, should be good swimmers, exposed as they are by their insular situation, and commercial pursuits, and disposition to visit other lands, so frequently to perils by sea; yet, while most towns on the Continent abound in baths and swimming-schools, in British towns they are still few in number.
Most animals have a natural aptitude for swimming, not found in man; for they will at once swim when even first thrown into the water; but it must be noticed that the motions they then employ much more resemble their ordinary movements of progression than those made use of by men under similar circumstances.