Some of our readers will doubtless remember an allusion in the tale of
"The Doom" to an individual who performed the feat of swimming across
the James, at the falls above this city. A valuable correspondent, who
was the bold swimmer alluded to, writes us as follows:
"I noticed the allusion in the Doom. The writer seems to compare my
swim with that of Lord Byron, whereas there can be no comparison
between them. Any swimmer 'in the falls' in my days, would have swum
the Hellespont, and thought nothing of the matter. I swam from
Ludlam's wharf to Warwick, (six miles,) in a hot June sun, against one
of the strongest tides ever known in the river. It would have been a
feat comparatively easy to swim twenty miles in still water. I would
not think much of attempting to swim the British Channel from Dover to
Calais."
For the Southern Literary Messenger.
"THE GRAVE OF FORGOTTEN GENIUS."