Another serious attempt has been made to swim the Channel.
A Mr. Cavil, a " professor" of swimming at Brighton, entered the water at Dover, at 1.30 a.m. on Tuesday, but after swimming for eleven hours, and reaching a point within six miles of the French :coast, he was so exhausted that he was taken into a pilot-boat accompanying him. His temperature, it is stated, had sunk to 25°, and for some minutes his life must have been in serious -danger. Captain Webb, who accompanied him, attributed his failure to an enlargement of the liver, to a method of swimming which secures speed at the cost of exhaustion, and to too many doses of whiskey administered during the swim ; but in truth the feat is nearly impossible. The conditions needed, a body without a:flaw, a constitution insensible to cold, and perfect fearlessness, are rarely found together in a professional athlete, and till they are found Captain Webb's achievement will remain unequalled.
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