A PERILOUS FEAT AT SEA BY BLONDIN.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2177, 27 December 1875, Page 2

A PERILOUS FEAT AT SEA BY BLONDIN.

'■■■■ A gentleman, who: was.!/ passenger on board the P. and 0. steamship Poonah, sends us the folio wring :—" The P. and'.o, mails steamer Poonah; was 6aX jher; fifst voyage to Calcutta, after the completion of the alterations and improvements which have been made in her, and at five o'clock in the afternoon ofy the-fl9th October, when the ship was between Aden and Galle, Blondin announced tjbtat He was ready to try" the v feat of walking on the; tight rope in a seaway, and undertook to walk from the main to. the miaenmast and back. A seven-inch hawser having been made fast to themizentop «nd roy« through a heavy block in the maintop,and hauled taut by the steam-winch on deck, lateral motion was prevented ts far as pbesible by guys made fast to the sides of the ship ; but the motion of the vessel herself could not be avoided, and the main difficulty f wat the long,r,slflpv confused . swell which at the change of the monsoon i seems in those seas to come from different quarters at once. When Blondin stood in the maintop, pole in hand, he hesitated long enough, with one foot on the rope, to make many think he had repented, for the task was difficult enough to try even his nerves. The mizen is, o£ course, lower than the main, the. steadying guys had pulled the rope down in the centre, so that he had to start down a rather sharp incline. Blondin is accustomed to guide and steady himself by fixing his eyes on the rope, about twenty feet ahead;.but what with the rolling of the ship and the vibration ;ipf the.powerful-; engine.s,|,the rope he had now to walk on was drawn intb such contortions that he described it as looking more, like a snake than a-Tope. Before he had gone five yards he was forced to sit down to steady himself, and avoid two or three rollers which came in succession.- He rose on one leg; and it was worth much ito see the great muscles on the outside of his thighs spring into bold relief Twice again he sat down, and then reached the mizen mast amidst hearty applause. /This part of the journey was made more difficult by the sun shining directly in his eyes. His return was quick and easy till he had passed over three-quarters p£, the distance, when the swell caught the ship! He had fto^bp, and sway from side to side till he seemed quite out of the perpendicular v the fact being that the masts and funnel by which' the eye was guided were themselves pot of the perpendicular.' The pole wavered violently, and once or twice- appeared to be held almost straight up and down. Much anxiety was felt not only by the the passengers, but by Captain Angrovo and the officers of the, ship. . Blondin never lost his nerve, but cboly waited till the troublesome rollers ' had passed, walked on and reached the mainmast in in safety. He says that his task was a most difficult one, and that he could not have gone through any of his usual performances on such a rope as that. Captain Angrove, who had eased the the engines and varied the course of the ship from time to time, so as to keep her as steady as possible, congratulated Blondin warmly upon his safe descent. The whole thing was gratuitous, Blondin's only recompense for having done what no man did before being a unanimous vote of thanks from the passengers.