2. Before jumping in to save him, divest yourself as far and as quickly as possible of all clothes; tear them off, if necessary; but if there is not time, loose at all events the foot of your drawers, if they are tied, as, if you do not do so, they fill with water and drag you.

3. On swimming to a person in the sea, if he be struggling do not seize him then, but keep off for a few seconds till he gets quiet, for it is sheer madness to take hold of a man when he is struggling in the water, and if you do you run a great risk.

4. Then get close to him and take fast hold of the hair of his head, turn him as quickly as possible on to his back, give him a sudden pull, and this will cause him to float, then throw yourself on your back also and swim for the shore, both hands having hold of his hair, you on your back, and he also on his, and of course his back to your stomach. In this way you will get sooner and safer ashore than by any other means, and you can easily thus swim with two or three persons; the writer has even, as an experiment, done it with four, and gone with them forty or fifty yards in the sea. One great advantage of this method is that it enables you to keep your head up, and also to hold the person's head up you are trying to save. It is of primary importance that you take fast hold of the hair, and throw both the person and yourself on your backs. After many experiments, it is usually found preferable to all other methods. You can in this manner float nearly as long as you please, or until a boat or other help can be obtained.

5. It is believed there is no such thing as a death grasp; at least, it is very unusual to witness it. As soon as a drowning man begins to get feeble and to lose his recollection, he gradually slackens his hold until he quits it altogether. No apprehension need, therefore, be felt on that head when attempting to rescue a drowning person.

6. After a person has sunk to the bottom, if the water be smooth, the exact position where the body lies may be known by the air bubbles, which will occasionally rise to the surface, allowance being, of course, made for the motion of the water, if in a tide way or stream, which will have carried the bubbles out of a perpendicular course in rising to the surface. Oftentimes a body may be regained from the bottom, before too late for recovery, by diving for it in the direction indicated by these bubbles.

7. On rescuing a person by diving to the bottom, the hair of the head should be seized by one hand only, and the other used in conjunction with the feet in raising yourself and the drowning person to the surface.

8. If in the sea, it may sometimes be a great error to try to get to land. If there be a strong "outsetting tide" and you are swimming either by yourself or having hold of a person who cannot swim, then get on your back and float till help comes. Many a man exhausts himself by stemming the billows for the shore on a back-going tide, and sinks in the effort, when, if he had floated, a boat or other aid might have been obtained.

9. These instructions apply alike to all circumstances, whether as regards the roughest sea or smooth water.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Changing hands will be found unnecessary after some practice; the tongue, however, must not be released.