d, sheathed in a richly carved scabbard, ornamented
with a handle of artistic design, weighing, with the exception of the
blade of fine steel, ten pounds solid silver.

Exhibitions were given through Belgium until November 15th, 1877, In
Brussels they took one thousand dollars a day for four days, and at
a benefit for the poor given in the lake of the Bois de Cambrai, under
the patronage of King Leopold, at which the Royal family was present,
an enormous sum resulted. The king bestowed on Paul the medal of the
First Order of Life Savers of Belgium.

November 17th, he began a voyage down the Somme, which occupied two
days. He started at Amiens. On the evening of the first day, just
before reaching Ponte Remy, where he intended to stop for the night, he
was surprised at receiving a charge of shot. While he was drifting
around a point above that place, a duck hunter who was concealed in the
bushes mistook his feet for a pair of ducks and fired at them. Luckily
the shot struck the heavy rubber soles of his dress and no damage was
done. Boyton rose up in the water with a torrent of forcible comments in
English, and the frightened sportsman rapidly disappeared in the
darkness.

Starting early next morning, he arrived at Abbyville in the evening,
where the customary generous reception awaited him. Next day he
returned to Amiens where he gave an entertainment, and thence to Paris.
He had a new tender built in the latter city, in anticipation of a
voyage down the Loire. He christened the new tender the Isabel Alvarez
du Toledo, in honor of a fair maid of Italy. He began the voyage of
the Loire, December 8th, 1877, at Orleans, to make a run to Nantes, a
distance of four hundred and nine miles. The weather was cold and
miserable. The river is bad, numerous shifting sand bars making it
difficult to keep the channel, and added to this are many beds of
treacherous quicksands. The lowlands, through which the course of the
river runs, leave a free vent for the wind to strike its surface, making
it desirable for sail boats to navigate. They are mostly wood and
provision boats, flat bottomed and built somewhat on the plan of
canal boats. They carry an enormous square sail on a single mast,
larger than any sail used on the greatest ships.

At nine o'clock in the morning the start was made from Orleans and Paul
arrived at Blois in the evening, where he came very near having his arm
broken by coming in