The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1865-08-24


Her plirth- -chcckcrcd grief to pursue;
For she hears she haslost-and lore1ct---
4 heart that was known by 50 few:
B.t | wish on the sArinc of his glory
One fair little blossom to tli::;;
And YOU scs: tncre's Il NICE little Stoi%
Attached to the hose and the Rang.
The power Of man to adapt himself
to new, and, indeed, unnatural modes
of life, has long attracted the serious
attention of the philosopher. Some
have thought it possible for him to
livc i'm the water like whale; and III
support of this theory. the extraor,li-
nary aquatic feats of the Greer landcrs,
and the inhabitants of the shores OF
the Mediterranean, the South Sea
Islanders, and the Chinese, have been
pointed to. Many men have been
known to swim thirty miles a day;
and SIC famous Neapolitan diver, com
rnoaly called ]l Pcsce, once performed
th, distance oi fifty miles i'll twenty
four hours. on the coast Of Calabl'ia.
At various periods, strange reports
have been spread relative to human
beings who have been fonnd living
:,;tlrr in sea-caves or on the bosom OF
The mighty deep itself; and amid the
numerous examples brought forward
TO prove this amphibious nature Of
man, probably none is moro cHriols
than the. following. But let us pre-
mise that it is no offspring of the pre-
sent writer's Imagination. Whether
the anecdots be in itself absolutely
true, or an exaggerated account Of a
singular and somewhat startling oc-
cu renee, we cannot pretend to de-
ternline; but w. can undertake to cay,
that no doubt was entertained on the
snloiect by cotemporary writer's, and
that it has been treated as an ests
bEsscil fact by Tieck, the Gcrman
poet.
If YOU open the map OF Spain, on
the Southern shore of the Bay of Bis
cav, between Asturias and Old CASTLE,
yon will find the town of Santander,
not far distant from .Santillana. the
birth place OF our old friend Gil E!as,
and in close proximity to Santander,
YOU will see the name of Liergancs.
This is a place of no particular intc
rest, except what it derives from the
following narrative. The surrounding
:ccncrv is mountainous, and the land
cape stretches down through pictur-
sque valleys to the sea. Here, two
undred years ago, lived poor but
onest couple, named Francisco de IL
,ega and Maria, his wife, together
it'll their four sons, Thomas-who
IS alpeady priest-Joseph, Fran
SEQ and Juan.
francisco, named after his father,
,s born in the year 1857, and soon
:yan to evince.a wonderful predehc-
t a for the water. Even in early
nth, he was constantly either bath
il : or angling in the river that flows
Il rough the district. The same year
th.t ushered young Francisco into the
W rid saw the last of his male proge-
nj Dr., so that the task Of maintaining
h. family mainly rested with Maria,
m her sons ind oience was the source
.: onstant grief to the poor woman.
Ia AIN did She exert herself to send
h.; 30 school; the good-for-noihins
.cl was constantly seen during
sci ,ol hours either swimming in or
loi' ring apout his favorite stream.
At myth poor Maria lost all patience
wit her cnild, and in moment OF
frel " sne cursed him, bidding him
tax altogether to the sea, and get his
ivi. g there, as he was of no use On
cart Now, q mothers curse is a
fee, Il thing anywhere; bat amongst
SOU .ern nations, more especially,
thcr is asupcrstitious feeling attached
to it Which often drives the victim Oh