After leaving Ferrara, Boyton gave many exhibitions through the interior
towns of Italy; and finally made arrangements for a voyage down the
Arno from Florence to Pisa, a distance of about one-hundred kilometers.
All Florence was worked up to a state of great excitement when it
became known that the intrepid American, as he was called, was going to
start on a voyage from that city. The banks of the Arno were literally
jammed with people to witness the start. The river, which is fed by
mountain streams, was rising rapidly owing to recent heavy rains above
and many were the exclamations of doubt regarding his ability to
accomplish the undertaking. A dam, called the pescaia, spans the river
diagonally in the midst of the city and it was looked upon as a
dangerous obstacle by the people. The start was made shortly before two
o'clock in the afternoon and the rapid current, assisted by the
powerful strokes of his paddle, soon carried Paul beyond sight of the
crowds and he went over the dam in safety.
At nine o'clock he arrived at San Romano where an immense crowd,
including the notables of the district, together with the municipal
junta of Montopoli, awaited patiently as possible his arrival. Torches
blazed along the bank to show him where to land and loud huzzas rolled
up from the multitude when he stood on the shore. He was escorted to a
small inn where his only refreshments were two cups of tea. The crowd
demanded a speech, and to quiet the yelling, Paul stepped to the porch
of the inn and delivered most of the Italian words he knew:
"Signori, taute grazie di vostra accoglienza, arrivederie, ciao!"
The speech was greeted with great applause and the crowd was satisfied.
He remained at San Romano but a short time and again entered the water.
At some little distance below the village, there is a weir which is
considered a most formidable spot by the inhabitants. They endeavored
to persuade Boyton to remain until morning and not attempt its passage
in the darkness, especially as the river was now much higher than when
he started. Paul laughed at their fears and amidst the plaudits of the
spectators, disappeared in the darkness. The weir so feared by the
people, proved a mere toy for him.
A demonstration in his honor was prepared at Pontedera, where he arrived
at 12 o'clock. Regardless of the late hour, the banks were crowded and
torches gleamed along the entire length of the town. The whole
population seemed to have turned out. As Paul came opposite, he stood up
in the water, saluting the assemblage. As he resumed his recumbent
position, his hand came in contact with the upturned face of a dead
woman. For a moment he was horrified; but fastening the body to a
line, he carried it to shore, while the band played and the people
cheered, little suspecting that the voyager had such a ghastly object
in tow. He called out that he had the corpse of a woman with him. Some
of the authorities took charge of it; but the crowd gave it no heed as
they followed up the street, cheering and tumbling over one another in
their anxiety to see him. One enthusiast, who thought he was being
unduly crowded, rammed his torch down another's throat. Boyton was
compelled to repeat the speech he made at San Romano. The banquet was a
noble success; but very trying to the landlord who appeared to be
completely upset at having such unusual trade. Instead of heeding
orders for edibles, he would rush into the banqueting hall every few
moments and nervously count the empty wine bottles. The guests yelled
at him to hurry; but those bottles were counted several times before
anything was set on the table to eat. Paul remained at Pontedera until
morning, simply because he did not wish to reach Pisa until the
following mid-day, which was the time appointed. Consequently it was
8 o'clock in the morning when he resumed the voyage; he was escorted to
the river by the same enthusiastic crowds. At noon he arrived at Pisa.
A unique reception had been arranged. The mayor and all the authorities
were out to meet him in those peculiar looking boats that are seen
nowhere else in the world, called Lancia Pisana. Those boats are of
ancient make; none of them being manufactured at the present day.
They are about thirty feet long, richly carved and gaudily painted.
Under the escort of these gay boats, containing the
notabilities, Paul landed and again great crowds tendered him an
ovation.
Under the impression that Boyton could neither speak nor understand the
Italian tongue, the officials had engaged a man who was supposed to be
a great English scholar, to act as interpreter for him at the feast to
be given in the evening. The fellow was a burr, sticking to the outer
skirts of respectable society, and when he was engaged to act as
interpreter on such an occasion, he felt himself to be a great man. He
was over weighted with his importance. At the banquet he sat at Boyton's
right hand and at every toast proposed, he would rise and bow in the
most gracious manner. This rather embarrassed Paul, who understood about
all that was being said and could speak enough Italian to make
himself understood. He mentioned the fact to one or two of his
entertainers, at the same time expressing a desire to be rid of the
interpreter. The fellow was having too much pleasure to be easily
disposed of, and it was not until some very vigorous words were passed,
that he concluded to abandon the scene. In the meantime he had been
honoring every toast with copious draughts of wine, and was very much
intoxicated when he left the hall. He wandered about the streets and
the more he thought of his dismissal, the deeper became his wrath and he
concluded that he had been insulted. A few more measures of wine,
partaken of at the café, determined him to wipe the insult out in blood.
Having made up his mind to write Boyton a challenge, he entered a
hotel with an air of great importance, and called to a waiter in a voice
that could be heard all over the place:
"Waiter; a pen, ink and paper. I wish to write to Captain Paul Boyton."
The materials were given him and the following is a verbatim copy of
the challenge sent by the accomplished English scholar to Paul:
[Image of obviously illegible gibberish]
Next morning Boyton returned to Florence and that evening while
entertaining some friends in his room, one of the guests looked out
at the window and remarked how much higher the river was than it had
been when he started for Pisa. Some of the guests advanced the opinion
that it would be impossible for him to go into the river while it was
in such a flood. Paul, overhearing them, said: "Ladies and gentlemen, if
you will step out on the porch and wait a few moments, I will enter the
river and paddle through the city in order to show you that I am equally
as safe in such water as I would be were it as smooth as glass."
While he was preparing for this short trip, the news spread over the
city like wildfire and by the time he was ready, people lined
either shore. When he proposed the trip, he had forgotten about the dam
before alluded to, and did not know that the water was pouring over it
in such torrents that it was extremely dangerous. He entered the raging
current and was rapidly carried toward it. When he realized the danger
he was approaching, it was too late to retreat, owing to the terrific
power of the current that was bearing him to the falls. As he went
over the sloping volume of water, he was met at the bottom by an
immense back wave which drove him under. Where the clashing waves
embraced each other, he was checked and held, being rolled like a log
that is caught between a back and an undertow. Thousands of people
crowded the banks in the vicinity of the pescaia and they gave Boyton
up as lost. Men turned pale and women fainted. Now and again they could
see an arm protruding from the dark, angry waters; then a leg and an end
of his paddle which he had the presence of mind to retain. It was
impossible to get a rope to him and certain death to attempt a rescue
with a boat.
"Only God can save him now," yelled some excited Italian, "no man can do
it."
The multitude felt there was nothing to be done but to stand helplessly
by and watch him drown. And what were Boyton's thoughts? He stated
afterwards: "I thought of it being Christmas eve. The news of my death
would be telegraphed to New York, my mother would hear of it and it
would make a sad Christmas for her." The voyager straggled with all the
strength he possessed against the awful power of the contending waters
and fortunately succeeded in throwing himself out on a big wave and was
carried down. A great sigh of relief went up from the crowd which
sounded like the rush of distant wind.
Soon after Paul was pulled from the river insensible. When he recovered
from that adventure, King Victor Emanuel gave permission for him to
appear in the Jardin Boboli. The excitement was so great during that
appearance and the crowd so large that ticket takers were carried
away from the gates, and though many thus entered free, several thousand
francs were realized.
Paul was now the fashion in Italy. Songs were composed and sung in his
honor at the theatres, brands of cigars and other articles were given
his name; business men had their calendars for the new year printed with
his adventures detailed on them, and the citizens of Meletti
christened a lake after him. Managers of places of amusement advertised
that he would be present at their entertainments in order to draw
crowds, and everywhere could be heard the praises of the wonderful
American.
From Florence Paul went to Rome, where he visited General Pescetto,
Italian Minister of Marine, with whom he had a pleasant
conversation, during which the meeting with his son on the Po was
mentioned.
"What can I do for you?" cordially asked the General.
"Well," answered 'Paul, "my business is introducing my life-saving
dress, which will be the means of preserving many lives on the coast as
well as on the men-of-war you are now constructing."
"Ah, you have proved the value of your dress. I have no doubt of its
efficiency; but our government has expended vast sums of money already
for the benefit of shipwrecked mariners and we are not as rich as we
would wish to be. The means we now have for saving life on the coast
are considered sufficient, and in regard to adopting your dress on our
men-of-war, I fear you do not understand the nature of the Italian
sailor. If we placed a number of your dresses on the Duelio, for
instance, or on any of our men-of-war, the sailors would reason that the
vessels were not seaworthy and we would have much difficulty in
persuading them to enlist." "Suppose I could prove to you that it would
be possible to slip under one of your men-of-war on a dark night and
blow her to atoms. How would that be?"
"Ah," responded the General earnestly, "that is a different question. If
you can prove that to me, I will call a commission to examine into
it."
Ample proof was given as to the efficacy of the dress in the torpedo
service, and to-day there are many drilled experts in the Italian
navy, which serves to show how much more interest is manifested in life
taking than in lifesaving. Arrangements were made for an exhibition in
the bano del poplo. In preparing for this entertainment, Paul first
experienced the manner most of the European artisans have of doing
business and their original way of preparing bills for services
rendered. It was necessary for him to engage a carpenter to build
several small boats for use in the exhibition. Paul asked the
landlord to assist him in making a contract with a workman. With the
accommodating host's help, an agreement was made with a skilled
worker in wood to build six little boats according to specifications
given, for the sum of five lire each. The carpenter had the boats
ready on time, and during the exhibition, constituted himself a sort of
major domo, making himself very busy and very much in the way about
the place, as though he had charge of the entire affair. At the close of
the entertainment, he presented a bill for seventy-five lire, when
according to his contract, it should have been but thirty lire. Paul
refused to pay until the landlord should examine the account and
pronounce it correct. When it was shown to that gentleman, he vigorously
protested against its payment, pronouncing it robbery and compelling
the carpenter to render an itemized account. Following is a copy of the
itemized bill, which will be of interest to business men and artisans of
other countries:
To six boats, per agreement................30 lire.
Wood for building..........................11
Nails.......................................2
Labor and making...........................14
Pieces broken in bending....................5
Carrying boats to the bano..................2
Time lost while at exhibition..............10
Wine for poor boy who fell overboard........1
Total 75 lire
The above is a fair sample of how contracts are adhered to in many
European countries. Paul paid the fellow the thirty lire that were due
him, receiving the profane blessing of the irate builder. Boyton was
just in time for the great Roman Carnival and had the pleasure, if such
it may be called, of witnessing the spectacle of barbrie barbrie. This
was cruel and dangerous sport--a horse race along the Corso, the
principal thoroughfare in Rome; which is a narrow, winding street. The
race was contested by five or six thoroughbred horses, nearly wild
and very vicious. They were turned loose in the street without bridle
or any other harness with the exception of a surcingle, from the sides
of which hung like tassels, steel balls, with sharp, needle-like points
projecting from their surface that served to prick and goad the animals
to a frenzy of speed. The streets were lined with people and it was all
the enormous force of guards could do to drive them out of danger to
the sidewalks. The balconies and windows of the houses were also
crowded. The start was made near the upper end of the city at the
Place del Popolo, where anxious grooms held the struggling horses;
until, at the firing of a cannon, the bridles were slipped and the
frightened animals dashed madly down the street, with those wicked
steel balls swinging in the air and cruelly beating their sides,
spurring them to a terrific pace. Each horse bore a number and as
immense sums of money are wagered, cannons were placed at intervals
along the route which were fired a number of times to correspond with
the number borne by the horse in the lead, thus indicating to the
betters the number of the horse in front at the different stations.
Perfect pandemonium reigned during this wild dash down the Corso. Men
and women yelled as though they were mad, and the shrill voices of
children were also heard above the roaring of the cannon.
At the end of the Corso a net was dropped across the street, into which
the frenzied steeds plunged and were flung to the ground, a tangled and
bleeding mass of noble horse-flesh. Some were killed outright and others
were so maimed that they had to be dispatched to put them out of
misery. More or less people were always killed at these barbarous races;
but for some years the barbrie has been abolished.
While in the ancient city, Paul determined to make a voyage down the
Tiber. He went up the river as far as he could get, to Orte. The
distance from that town to Rome is about one hundred and ninety miles by
river. News of his determination to try the Tiber having preceeded him
to Orte, he was royally received by the authorities and populace. When
the start was made, the mayor escorted him to the river, lustily blowing
a horn all the way, like a fish peddler trying to attract attention.
The Tiber is an uninteresting stream, running through the Roman
Campagna, and is made up of great bends. He left Orte in the afternoon,
and night came on terribly cold. Now and then he would get a cheer from
people along the banks; but in a moment it was lost. He drove rapidly
along all night without an adventure worth recording. About six o'clock
next morning he was caught in an awkward manner in the branches of a
tree that had washed into the stream and he only freed himself by
cutting away the limbs with his knife, causing considerable delay. All
day he drove energetically along, and the stream turned and twisted so
much that he frequently passed the same village twice in swinging
around great bends. At nightfall he came near frightening the life out
of a shepherd. Not knowing where he was and hearing the bark of a
dog he climbed up the bank to ascertain, if possible, his locality. He
met the shepherd on top of the bank, who looked at him a moment and
then scampered away across the plain as fast as his legs would carry
him.
That night Paul was met by the Canottiere del Tevere, the leading boat
club of Rome, and was accompanied by them for the rest of the journey.
Next morning, when they neared Rome, they hauled up at a clubhouse for
breakfast. For some miles before they reached the city, people came out
on horseback and on foot, saluting them with vivas. At three o'clock
they pulled into Rome and were welcomed by thousands of people, and
Paul was agreeably astonished at hearing a band play Yankee Doodle in a
house which was profusely decorated with American flags. In fact,
the reception was something indescribable. People were crowded into
every available space. A barge upset in the river, but all the occupants
were saved. Boyton landed at Ripetta Grande and so great was the
pressure of the throng that the iron band about the waist of his dress
was crushed like an eggshell. No end of fetes followed, the citizens
seeming to vie with one another as to which could give the
most splendid entertainment.
Naples was next visited with the intention of crossing the famous bay.
Paul arrived in that city in time for the carnival, and enjoyed seeing
Victor Emanuel, that grim but good natured old king, open the
festivities by driving through the streets and submitting to the
bombardment of confetti. His majesty smiled and bowed as he passed
along, throwing some of it back at those who were standing near. The
confetti is made of plaster of Paris and easily crumbles to powder,
as flour and it is thrown everywhere and at everybody by the gay,
laughing people.
On the afternoon of February 16th, 1877, Boyton crossed on the steamer
to Capri, having decided to start from that point. While on the island
that afternoon, he visited the Blue Grotto, an opening in the island
leading into a cave of rare beauty, which is daily visited by tourists.
A boat passes through the entrance and directly the visitor is
enshrouded in intense darkness; but the moment anything touches the
water, the phosphorus causes it to light up a vivid, silver-like color.
Paul put on his dress and paddled all through the wonderful grotto,
the rubber appearing like a bright, silver armor as he agitated the
water with his paddle.
At three o'clock next morning he started on his trip across the bay from
the steamboat landing. Notwithstanding the early hour, all the
inhabitants of the island were on hand to witness the start. To his
surprise he found the effect of the water of the bay in the dark, the
same as had been observed in the Blue Grotto. Even the fish darting
about, would leave a phosphorescent trail.
When the sun rose that morning, Mt. Vesuvius loomed up before Paul in
the clear atmosphere. It seemed very near and he thought he would reach
Naples before time. About nine o'clock, the bay became very rough and
soon the blue waves covered him. He kept paddling on and on, yet the
grim, smoke-covered mountain seemed no nearer. At three o'clock in the
afternoon, he sighted a felucca bearing down on him. When near enough,
he stood up in the water and hailed her. The occupants of the little
vessel came to the rail, pointed at the unusual object in the water
and then the great sail was veered around and they scudded swiftly away.
Sailors on that bay have a superstition about picking up a dead body
and they either supposed Paul was a drowned person or some mysterious
denizen of the deep. At any rate they were too badly frightened
to investigate. At five o'clock, the voyager was nearing Naples in a
rough sea. The excursion boats went out but almost missed him. Sounding
the bugle, he attracted their attention. He landed at the city at about
seven o'clock before an enormous crowd, among whom were King
Victor Emmanuel, the sindaco with the other authorities of Naples. The
usual banquet was prepared and it was a late hour that night
before the ceremonies were concluded. The fishermen of the city
presented Paul with an address signed by over four thousand people
connected with the water, and Marianne Aguglia, Comtesse Desmouceaux
published a poem commemorating the event. Victor Emmanuel invited Paul
to exhibit before him in the arsenal, or military port. The King was
accompanied by his morganatic wife, the Countess of Miraflores. He
was delighted with the performance, more particularly with the
torpedo display. One of the pieces of timber from the explosion fell
near his feet; he laughed merrily about it, while the Countess drew
away in alarm. After the exhibition, Boyton divested himself of the
rubber dress and stood clad in a well-worn naval uniform. He was
escorted to the presence of the royal pair by Admiral del Carette. The
King asked Paul many questions in his quaint, Piedmontese French, and
then observing that the voyager was fatigued, he ordered two goblets of
wine to be brought in, which good health and fortune were pledged.
Then an officer was ordered to bring the cross, which the King himself
pinned on Paul's blue shirt, knighting him with the Cross of the Order
of the Crown of Italy saying:
"You are a brave man and deserve this token of our appreciation."