Now is the last desperate struggle. Pull, Harvard; you cannot hope to win. Pull, Harvard, and pluck the sting from defeat! Both crews go at it for a minute, and Loring's last spark of fire is given to drive his boat through the water. There is a shout from the Ship Tavern, where the American flag is displayed. Oxford comes by with that terrible vengeance stroke, the terror of many a gallant Cantab oarsman. There is a shout which splits the clouds almost, a report of a gun, and Oxford has struck the tow line, a boat and a half's length ahead, (not three lengths ahead as was reported,) the race is lost and won, by about 65 feet, and the most gallant display ever seen on the Thames is over, and the dark blue swarms go home triumphant at heart. Bridges, river bank, and church steeple are deserted, as the Oxford crew paddle their boat along side of the Harvard crew, and, raising their hands in air, give the defeated oarsmen a hearty English cheer and shake hands with them, and the Harvard boys cheer back, and Charles Reade, who stands on the deck of the steamer Lotus, lifts his straw hat in respect to Loring, who smiles back sadly at him, and all is over. The children's children of those two crews will yet tell of that day's struggle, which for one hour served to call back the Homeric days of Greece. The distance pulled by the Harvard and Oxford crews was four miles and three furlongs, without any turning at a stake boat. The day was a very warm one, the thermometer being at 87° Fahrenheit--in the shade. The names and weight of the crews were as follows: OXFORD UNIVERSITY. HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 1. Darbishire, (stroke) 160 lbs. 1. Loring, (stroke) 154 lbs. 2. Yarborough, 170 " 2. Simmonds, 170 " 3. Tinne, 192 " 3. Lyman, 155 " 4. Willan, (bow) 166 " 4. Fay, (bow) 155 " Hall, coxswain, 100 " Burnham, coxswain, 112 " ____ ____ 788 746 [Sidenote: BEATEN BY EIGHT SECONDS.] The time occupied by both crews in pulling the race was as follows: Oxford, 22 minutes 20 seconds. Harvard, 22 " 26 " Both crews did their best, but the Oxford style of rowing, and their form, was superior to that of Harvard. Rowing with a coxswain will one day supersede the Harvard bow-steering. The Harvard crew received perfect fair-play and courtesy, and all the stories to the contrary which have been circulated are untrue. [Illustration] CHAPTER XXV. THE CURIOSITIES OF LONDON.