Men have been known to swim in their clothes a distance of 4000 feet. Others have performed 2200 feet in twenty-nine minutes. Some learn to dive and bring out of the water burdens as heavy as a man. [This art, however, has made little if any progress from the earliest records that we possess of it. Leander’s feat of passing from Abydos to Sestos was the crack performance of antiquity; and it was the ultra achievement of Lord Byron, probably one of the best swimmers of our day.--ED. Fifth Edition.] ROWING. RIVER ROWING,[9] WITH TWO SCULLS. [9] This should have the preference here, because the art is best learned on the smooth water, and in the lighter boats, of rivers. THE BOAT. It may be laid down as a general rule, that, in calm weather, a light and sharp boat is preferable; and, in rough weather, a heavier and broader one. The learner, however, should not at first begin in too light a boat, nor should he practise in rough weather, until he gets acquainted with its management. TO LEAVE THE LANDING-PLACE. To leave the shore, the rower should, with the boat-hook, shove the boat off, head upon tide, or opposite to the current. To leave stairs, the rower must either shove the boat off with the boat-hook, or place the blade of the scull forward, and perform what the London watermen call belaying the boat’s head out from the shore, accordingly as there is deep or shallow water. This being done, the rower sits down to his sculls. These he puts in the rullocks, and turns the concave front, or filling of the scull, towards the stern of the boat. THE SEAT. The rower must sit a-midships on the thwart or seat of the boat, else she will heel to the side on which he is sitting, and much of his labour will be lost. He should sit with ease to himself, having his feet on the middle of the stretcher, and his legs not quite extended; but his knees, as he rows, should be brought down, and his legs stretched. THE PULL. The rower should make long strokes in a heavy boat, and shorter and quicker strokes in a light boat. At the beginning of the pull, he must, in general, bend his body till his head is over his knees, and extend his arms as far aft as convenient, that the blades of the sculls may be thrown correspondingly forward. Plate XXIX. f. 1. With regard to the back in particular, some think that, if a short distance is to be rowed, it should be bent; and that, if a long distance, it is less fatiguing to keep it straight. When the arms are extended as far aft, and the blades of the sculls as far forward as convenient--which must never be so far as to jam in the rullocks--(Plate XXIX. f. 1) the rower must dip the sculls into the water, and pull towards him, by at once bending the arms and the body.