NOVEL VOYAGE ON THE THAMES.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 269, 22 April 1875, Page 3

NOVEL VOYAGE ON THE THAMES.

A late London telegram stated that Captain Boyton had succeeded in floating fifty miles across the Channel, and nightfall only prevented him reaching Boulogne, The following account of a voyage on the Thames, with h'S life-preserving apparatus, taken from the Daily News, will therefore be interesting:— Captain Boyton, the young American, whose life preserving dress we described as being successfully exhibited in the Serpentine, astonished thousands of persons on Saturday, February 6th, by floating from Wapping to Vauxhali in his waterproof suit. It may be safely said that never before was old Father Thames so defied and set at nought by mortal; its depths had no terrors to the man who fearlessly committed himself to them, and its yellow tide no power to resist his advance or check his progress. The spectacle of a person calmly lying at ease, and buoyant as a sea-bird, upon the surface of the river, or, by way of change, standing arm-pit deep in it, with many fathoms beneath his feet, and moving hither and thither at will, naturally attracted the attention of all the sailors on board the ships, and all the spectators on the bridges, and to these Captain Boyton gave, in addition to a novel entertainment, a valuable lesson in life preservation. By a most simple contrivance sea-going people may now take a new lease of life. The stars and stripes fluttering at the feet of the floater, on Saturday, called attention to the true nature of the long, black object that kept the centre of the silent highway, while the perfect success of the experiment must have put new ideas into many pondering minds as to what is possible where hitherto impossibilities only have been admitted. Captain Boyton started with a flood tide from Wapping Cld Stairs—not the modern broad flight of steps used by these latter-day wherries, but the narrow oldfashioned blocks of stone which'stilt remain to show where the jolly young waterman of the past was wont to take the fine city ladies on board. All the begrimed lighters moored thereabouts were crowded with workmen, just arrived from the yards and shops on the other side, and the bargees and watermen, young and old, looked on open-mouthed at the gentleman who, encasing himself in an armour of india-rubber, walked into and along the river without touching the bottom; who could not sink lower than his breast had he tried ever so hard to do it; and who by the aid of a light double-bladed canoe paddle set off on his journey, followed by a fleet of boats, and loudly cheered by the amazed and delighted spectators. Blowing his foghorn or whistle, using his axe, smoking his cigar, and waving his banner, his voyage was quite a triumphal water progress, and the coyayeur seemed to take a special delight in threading his way amongst shipping and boats, and taking the arches where the current was most dangerous. Once or twice he purposely allowed himself to foul a barge or the buttress of a bridge, in one instance shooting like an arrow under the stern, and between two boats towing behind. Easy it was to see that, clad in one of these suits, a man may venture where a boat could never go, and perform services of the highest advantage to humanity. By the use of rockets and signal lights Captain Boyton, as he travelled along by Westminster, now floating, and now ,in the upright half-sub-merged position which is the only alternative, showed how lines might be conveyed to ships in distress. On the whole, the uses of Captain Boyton’s dress are practically boundless, and the voyage from Wapping on Saturday to Lambeth, performed with ease and in spite of stoppages under an hour and a half, told to thousands of spectators a story of cheering hope in the future for all who go down to the sea in ships, and do business in mighty waters.