Chapter XXI: Letter 413: To Mr. Murray

"Ravenna, February 21. 1821.

"In the forty-fourth page, volume first, of Turner's Travels (which
you lately sent me), it is stated that 'Lord Byron, when he
expressed such confidence of its practicability, seems to have
forgotten that Leander swam both ways, with and against the tide;
whereas _he_ (Lord Byron) only performed the easiest part of the
task by swimming with it from Europe to Asia.' I certainly could
not have forgotten, what is known to every schoolboy, that Leander
crossed in the night and returned towards the morning. My object
was, to ascertain that the Hellespont could be crossed _at all_ by
swimming, and in this Mr. Ekenhead and myself both succeeded, the
one in an hour and ten minutes, and the other in one hour and five
minutes. The _tide_ was _not_ in our favour; on the contrary, the
great difficulty was to bear up against the current, which, so far
from helping us into the Asiatic side, set us down right towards
the Archipelago. Neither Mr. Ekenhead, myself, nor, I will venture
to add, any person on board the frigate, from Captain Bathurst
downwards, had any notion of a difference of the current on the
Asiatic side, of which Mr. Turner speaks. I never heard of it till
this moment, or I would have taken the other course. Lieutenant
Ekenhead's sole motive, and mine also, for setting out from the
European side was, that the little cape above Sestos was a more
prominent starting place, and the frigate, which lay below, close
under the Asiatic castle, formed a better point of view for us to
swim towards; and, in fact, we landed immediately below it.

"Mr. Turner says, 'Whatever is thrown into the stream on this part
of the European bank must arrive at the Asiatic shore.' This is so
far from being the case, that it _must_ arrive in the Archipelago,
if left to the current, although a strong wind in the Asiatic
direction might have such an effect occasionally.

"Mr. Turner attempted the passage from the Asiatic side, and
failed: 'After five-and-twenty minutes, in which he did not advance
a hundred yards, he gave it up from complete exhaustion.' This is
very possible, and might have occurred to him just as readily on
the European side. He should have set out a couple of miles higher,
and could then have come out below the European castle. I
particularly stated, and Mr. Hobhouse has done so also, that we
were obliged to make the real passage of one mile extend to between
_three_ and _four_, owing to the force of the stream. I can assure
Mr. Turner, that his success would have given me great pleasure, as
it would have added one more instance to the proofs of the
probability. It is not quite fair in him to infer, that because
_he_ failed, Leander could not succeed. There are still four
instances on record: a Neapolitan, a young Jew, Mr. Ekenhead, and
myself; the two last done in the presence of hundreds of _English_
witnesses.

"With regard to the difference of the _current,_ I perceived none;
it is favourable to the swimmer on neither side, but may be stemmed
by plunging into the sea, a considerable way above the opposite
point of the coast which the swimmer wishes to make, but still
bearing up against it; it is strong, but if you calculate well, you
may reach land. My own experience and that of others bids me
pronounce the passage of Leander perfectly practicable. Any young
man, in good and tolerable skill in swimming, might succeed in it
from _either_ side. I was three hours in swimming across the Tagus,
which is much more hazardous, being two hours longer than the
Hellespont. Of what may be done in swimming, I will mention one
more instance. In 1818, the Chevalier Mengaldo (a gentleman of
Bassano), a good swimmer, wished to swim with my friend Mr.
Alexander Scott and myself. As he seemed particularly anxious on
the subject, we indulged him. We all three started from the island
of the Lido and swam to Venice. At the entrance of the Grand Canal,
Scott and I were a good way ahead, and we saw no more of our
foreign friend, which, however, was of no consequence, as there was
a gondola to hold his clothes and pick him up. Scott swam on till
past the Rialto, where he got out, less from fatigue than from
_chill,_ having been four hours in the water, without rest or stay,
except what is to be obtained by floating on one's back--this being
the _condition_ of our performance. I continued my course on to
Santa Chiara, comprising the whole of the Grand Canal (besides the
distance from the Lido), and got out where the Laguna once more
opens to Fusina. I had been in the water, by my watch, without help
or rest, and never touching ground or boat, _four hours_ and
_twenty minutes_. To this match, and during the greater part of its
performance, Mr. Hoppner, the Consul-general, was witness, and it
is well known to many others. Mr. Turner can easily verify the
fact, if he thinks it worth while, by referring to Mr. Hoppner. The
distance we could not _accurately_ ascertain; it was of course
considerable.

"I crossed the Hellespont in one hour and ten minutes only. I am
now ten years older in time, and twenty in constitution, than I was
when I passed the Dardanelles, and yet two years ago I was capable
of swimming four hours and twenty minutes; and I am sure that I
could have continued two hours longer, though I had on a pair of
trowsers, an accoutrement which by no means assists the
performance. My two companions were also _four_ hours in the water.
Mengaldo might be about thirty years of age; Scott about
six-and-twenty.

"With this experience in swimming at different periods of life, not
only upon the SPOT, but elsewhere, of various persons, what is
there to make me doubt that Leander's exploit was perfectly
practicable? If three individuals did more than the passage of the
Hellespont, why should he have done less? But Mr. Turner failed,
and, naturally seeking a plausible reason for his failure, lays the
blame on the _Asiatic_ side of the strait. He tried to swim
directly across, instead of going higher up to take the vantage: he
might as well have tried to _fly_ over Mount Athos.

"That a young Greek of the heroic times, in love, and with his
limbs in full vigour, might have succeeded in such an attempt is
neither wonderful nor doubtful. Whether he _attempted_ it or _not_
is another question, because he might have had a small _boat_ to
save him the trouble.

"I am yours very truly,

"BYRON.

"P.S. Mr. Turner says that the swimming from Europe to Asia was
'the _easiest_ part of the task.' I doubt whether Leander found it
so, as it was the return; however, he had several hours between the
intervals. The argument of Mr. Turner, 'that higher up or lower
down, the strait widens so considerably that he would save little
labour by his starting,' is only good for indifferent swimmers; a
man of any practice or skill will always consider the distance less
than the strength of the stream. If Ekenhead and myself had thought
of crossing at the narrowest point, instead of going up to the Cape
above it, we should have been swept down to Tenedos. The strait,
however, is not so extremely wide, even where it broadens above and
below the forts. As the frigate was stationed some time in the
Dardanelles waiting for the firman, I bathed often in the strait
subsequently to our traject, and generally on the Asiatic side,
without perceiving the greater strength of the opposite stream by
which the diplomatic traveller palliates his own failure. Our
amusement in the small bay which opens immediately below the
Asiatic fort was to _dive_ for the LAND tortoises, which we flung
in on purpose, as they amphibiously crawled along the bottom.
_This_ does not argue any greater violence of current than on the
European shore. With regard to the _modest_ insinuation that we
chose the European side as 'easier,' I appeal to Mr. Hobhouse and
Captain Bathurst if it be true or no (poor Ekenhead being since
dead). Had we been aware of any such difference of current as is
asserted, we would at least have proved it, and were not likely to
have given it up in the twenty-five minutes of Mr. Turner's own
experiment. The secret of all this is, that Mr. Turner failed, and
that we succeeded; and he is consequently disappointed, and seems
not unwilling to overshadow whatever little merit there might be in
our success. Why did he not try the European side? If he had
succeeded there, after failing on the Asiatic, his plea would have
been more graceful and gracious. Mr. Turner may find what fault he
pleases with my poetry, or my politics; but I recommend him to
leave aquatic reflections till he is able to swim 'five-and-twenty
minutes' without being '_exhausted_,' though I believe he is the
first modern Tory who ever swam '_against_ the stream for half the
time."[32]

[Footnote 32: To the above letter, which was published at the time, Mr. Turner wrote a reply, but, for reasons stated by himself, did not print it. At his request, I give insertion to his paper in the Appendix.]

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