Here he met with an accident from which he almost
lost his right eye, by the premature explosion of a torpedo. He was an
invalid in the hotel on the banks of the Danube for two weeks. The
constant sight of the inviting water of the Danube started the desire in
his heart for another voyage, and it did not take him long to make up
his mind to take a run to Buda Pesth, about four hundred and fifty
miles below. When he announced his intention to take this voyage, it
was quickly telegraphed all over the country bordering on the river.
Almost the whole city of Linz turned out to bid him goodbye as he
stepped into the Danube. The current was very swift; but the river was
greatly cut up by islands and bars. He could see nothing blue about
the Danube. That river was almost as yellow as the Mississippi. Like all
rivers it has its bug-bear. The Struden is the terror of the Upper
Danube. It consists of a sharp and dangerous rapid, picturesquely
surrounded by high wood covered hills. Great crowds were gathered
here to see Paul make his plunge. He passed under two or three heavy
waves that completely submerged him. As he was hurried away on the wild
current, he held his paddle high up in acknowledgment to the cheers.

His reception in Vienna was most enthusiastic. From Presburg he was
accompanied for about two miles by the swimming club and he was made
an honorary member by a vote taken while he was paddling in the river
surrounded by his swimming friends. He was then left alone and all that
day he traveled through a barren and desolate country. He occasionally
ran across parties of gold dust hunters who were at work on the sand
bars. They were a wild looking lot of people and all wore white shirts
and baggy trousers. His appearance as he skimmed along on the current
never failed to produce the utmost consternation among the groups who
had possibly never heard of him. It was a very warm day and the sun
burned his face cruelly. In the evening the mosquitoes hovered around
him in clouds and made his life miserable. That night he was drowsy and
fatigued in consequence of his hard work all day. About eleven o'clock,
in spite of himself, he went to sleep, though well aware of the danger
he ran from the mills. The Danubian mill consists of two great barges
fastened together by beams and decked over with a large wheel between
them. They are anchored in the swiftest part of the current which
drives the machiner