From my earliest days, I was fond of the water--instinctively so. Had I
been born a duck, or a water-dog, I could not have liked it better. My
father had been a seaman, and his father before him, and grandfather
too; so that perhaps I inherited the instinct. Whether or not, my
aquatic tastes were as strong as if the water had been my natural
element; and I have been told, though I do not myself remember it, that
when still but a mere child, it was with difficulty I could be kept out
of puddles and ponds. In fact, the first adventure of my life occurred
in a pond, and that I remember well. Though it was neither so strange
nor so terrible as many adventures that befell me afterwards, still it
was rather a curious one, and I shall give you it, as illustrating the
early _penchant_ I had for aquatic pursuits. I was but a very little
boy at the time, and the odd incident occurring, as it were, at the very
threshold of my life, seemed to foreshadow the destiny of my future
career--that I was to experience as in reality I have experienced, many
vicissitudes and adventures.
I have said I was but a very little boy at the time--just big enough to
go about, and just of that age when boys take to sailing paper-boats. I
knew how to construct these out of the leaf of an old book, or a piece
of a newspaper; and often had I sent them on voyages across the
duck-pond, which was my ocean. I may ay, I had got a step beyond the
mere paper-boats: with my six months' stock of pocket-money, which I had
saved for the purpose, I had succeeded in purchasing a full-rigged
sloop, from an old fisherman, who had "built" her during his hours of
leisure. She was only six inches in length of keel, by less than three
in breadth of beam, and her tonnage, if registered--which it never was--
would have been about half a pound avoirdupois. A small craft you will
style her; but at that time, in my eyes, she was as grand as a
three-decker.
I esteemed her too large for the duck-pond, and resolved to go in search
of a piece of water where she should have more room to exhibit her
sailing qualities.
This I soon found in the shape of a very large pond--or lake, I should
rather call it--where the water was clear as crystal, and where there
was usually a nice light breeze playing over the surface--just strong
enough to fill the sails, and drive my little sloop along like a bird on
the wing--so that she often crossed the pond before I myself could get
round to the other side to receive her into my hands again.
Many a race have I had with my little sloop, in which sometimes she, and
sometimes I, proved victorious, according as the wind was favourable or
unfavourable to her course.
Now this pretty pond--by the shores of which I used to delight myself,
and where I spent many of the happiest hours of my boyhood--was not
public property. It was situated in a gentleman's park, that extended
backward from the end of the village, and the pond of course belonged to
the owner of the park. He was a kind and liberal gentleman, however,
and permitted the villagers to go through his grounds whenever they
pleased, and did not object to the boys sailing their boats upon the
ornamental water, or even playing cricket in one of his fields, provided
they did not act rudely or destroy any of the shrubs or plants that grew
along the walks. It was very kind and good of him to allow this
freedom; and we, the boys of the village, were sensible of this, and I
think on the whole we behaved as if we were so; for I never heard of any
damage being done that was deemed worthy of complaint. The park and
pond are there still--you all know them?--but the kind gentleman I speak
of has long since left this world; for he was an _old_ gentleman, then,
and that is sixty years ago.
Upon the little lake, there was at that time a flock of swans--six, if I
remember aright--besides other water-fowl of rare kinds. The boys took
great delight in feeding these pretty creatures; and it was a common
thing for one or other of us to bring pieces of bread, and chuck them to
the water-fowl. For my part, I was very fond of this little piece of
extravagance; and, whenever I had the opportunity, I came to the lake
with my pockets crammed.
The fowls, and especially the swans, under this treatment had grown so
tame, that they would eat out of our hands, without exhibiting the
slightest fear of us.
There was a particular way of giving them their food, in which we used
to take great delight. On one side of the lake, there was a bank that
rose three feet or so above the surface of the water. Here the pond was
deep, and there was no chance for either the swans, or any other
creature, to land at this place without taking to wing. The bank was
steep, without either shelf or stair to ascend by. In fact, it rather
hung over, than shelved.
At this point we used to meet the swans, that were always ready to come
when they saw us; and then, placing the piece of bread in the split end
of a rod, and holding it out high above them, we enjoyed the spectacle
of the swans stretching up their long necks, and occasionally leaping
upward out of the water to snatch it, just as dogs would have done. All
this, you will perceive, was rare fun for boys.
Now I come to the promised adventure.
One day, I had proceeded to the pond, carrying my sloop with me as
usual. It was at an early hour; and on reaching the ground, I found
that none of my companions had yet arrived. I launched my sloop,
however; and then walked around the shore to meet her on the opposite
side.
There was scarcely a breath of wind, and the sloop sailed slowly. I was
therefore in no hurry, but sauntered along at my leisure. On leaving
home I had not forgotten the swans, which were my great pets: such
favourites, indeed, that I very much fear they induced me on more than
one occasion to commit small thefts for them; since the slices of bread
with which my pockets were crammed, had been rather surreptitiously
obtained from the domestic larder.
Be this as it may, I had brought their allowance along with me; and on
reaching the high bank, I halted to give it them.
All six, who knew me well, with proud arching necks and wings slightly
elevated, came gliding rapidly across the pond to meet me; and in a few
seconds arrived under the bank, where they moved about with upstretched
beaks, and eyes eagerly scanning my movements. They knew that I had
called them thither to be kind to them.
Having procured a slight sapling, and split it at the end, I placed a
piece of bread in the notch, and proceeded to amuse myself with the
manoeuvres of the birds.
One piece after another was snatched away from the stick, and I had
nearly emptied my pockets, when all at once the sod upon which I was
standing gave way under me, and I fell _plump_ into the water.
I fell with a plunge like a large stone, and as I could not swim a
stroke, I should have gone to the bottom like one, but it so happened
that I came down right in the middle of the swans, who were no doubt
taken as much by surprise as myself.
Now it was not through any peculiar presence of mind on my part, but
simply from the instinct of self-preservation, which is common to every
living creature, that I made an effort to save myself. This I did by
throwing out my hands, and endeavouring to seize hold of something, just
as drowning men will catch even at straws. But I caught something
better than a straw, for I chanced to seize upon the leg of one of the
biggest and strongest of the swans, and to that I held on, as if my life
depended on my not letting it go.
At the first plunge my eyes and ears had been filled with water, and I
was hardly sensible of what I was doing. I could hear a vast splashing
and spluttering as the birds scattered away in affright, but in another
second of time I had consciousness enough to perceive that I had got
hold of the leg of the swan, and was being towed rapidly through the
water. I had sense enough to retain my hold; and in less time than I
have taken to tell it, I was dragged better than half across the pond,
which, after all, was but a short distance. The swan made no attempt to
swim, but rather fluttered along the surface, using his wings, and
perhaps the leg that was still free, to propel himself forward. Terror,
no doubt, had doubled both his strength and his energies, else he could
never have towed such a weight, big and strong as he was. How long the
affair would have lasted, it is hard to say. Not very long, however.
The bird might have kept above water a good while, but I could not have
held out much longer. I was every moment being ducked under, the water
at each immersion getting into my mouth and nostrils. I was fast losing
consciousness, and would soon have been forced to let go.
Just at this crisis, to my great joy, I felt something touch me
underneath; some rough object had struck against my knees. It was the
stones and gravel at the bottom of the lake; and I perceived that I was
now in water of no great depth. The bird, in struggling to escape, had
passed over the portion of the lake where it was deep and dangerous, and
was now close to the edge, where it shoaled, I did not hesitate a
moment; I was only too glad to put an end to the towing match, and
therefore released my grasp from the leg of the swan. The bird, thus
lightened, immediately took to wing; and, screeching like a wild fowl,
rose high into the air.
For myself, I found bottom at once, and after some staggering, and a
good deal of sneezing and hiccoughing, I regained my feet; and then
wading out, stood once more safe upon _terra firma_.
I was so badly terrified by the incident that I never thought of looking
after my sloop. Leaving her to finish her voyage as she might, I ran
away as fast as my legs would carry me, and never made halt or pause
till I had reached home and stood with dripping garments in front of the
fire.