WE are gratified in being able to make public the following instructions for the guidance of those who being themselves able to swim, may have opportunity to go to the aid of their drowning fellow creatures.

The writer of them, Mr. JOSEPH H. HODGSON, of Sunderland, known in that neighbourhood by the appellation of the " Stormy Petrel," is perhaps more competent to pronounce a practical opinion on the subject than any other person in the United Kingdom, he having made it his study from his boyhood, and having probably saved more persons from drowning by swimming to their aid than any other person in these islands. Before the age of seventeen Mr. HODGSON had on no less than five occasions received pecuniary awards from the Humane Society of Sunderland for saving the lives of his fellow-creatures. Since that time he has refused pecuniary recompense, but has received medals from the Emperor of the French, and from the Board of Trade, the National Life-Boat Institution, and Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Society in this country. Although not connected with the sea, being a carver-and gilder by trade, no sooner did the gale spring up, and the sea was lashed with foam, when wrecks and the upsetting of boats might be expected, than he was sure to be found at his post on the seashore, until he was at last looked on as a sure accompaniment of the storm, and by common consent, received the singular and honourable title of the " Stormy Petrel," from the small bird of that name, so familiar to every one who has traversed the ocean in a gale.

With a resolute heart, a muscular arm, great proficiency in the art of swimming, and the possession of that peculiar nervous power termed presence of mind, Mr. HODGSON appears to have possessed all the qualities which, aided by the desire to do good, have particularly qualified him for his selfimposed work of philanthropy. We had thought this short introduction of our Cor" respondent due to him and to our readers, and we will now at once proceed with his communication:— To (lie Editor of the Life-Boat Journal.

SIR,—I beg to furnish you with a few simple instructions, embodying my opinion as to the most efficacious mode of aiding a drowning person in the water by swimming to his assistance.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SAVING DROWNING PERSONS BY SWIMMING TO THEIR RELIEF.

1st. When you approach a person drowning in the water, assure him, with a loud and firm voice, that he is safe.

2nd. Before jumping in to save him, divest yourself as far and as quickly as possible, of all clothes, tear them off if necessary, but if there is not time, loose, at all events, the foot of your drawers if they are tied, as, if you do not do so, they fill with water and drag you.

3rd. On swimming to a person in the sea, if he be struggling, do not seize him then, but keep off for a few seconds till he gets quiet, which will be after he takes a mouthful or two, for it is sheer madness to take hold of a man when he is struggling in the water, and if you do, you run a great risk.

4th* Then get close to him and take fast hold of the hair of his head, turn him as quickly as possible on to his back, give him a sudden pull and this will cause him to float, then throw yourself on your back also and swim for the shore, both hands having hold of his hair, you on your back and he also on his, and of course his back to your stomach. In this way you will get sooner and safer ashore than by any other means, and you can easily thus swim with two or three persons ; the writer has often, as an experiment, done it with four, and gone with them forty or fifty yards in the sea. One great advantage of this method is that it enables you to keep your head up, and also to hold the person's head up you are trying to save. It is of primary importance that you take fast hold of the hair, and throw both the person and yourself on your backs. After many experiments I find this vastly preferable to all other methods. You can, in this manner, float nearly as long as you please, or until a boat or other help can be obtained.

5th. I believe there is no such thing as a death-grasp, at least it must be unusual, for I have seen many persons drowned and have never witnessed it. As soon as a drowning man begins to get feeble and to lose his recollection, he gradually slackens his hold until he quits it altogether. No apprehension need therefore be felt on that head when attempting to rescue a drowning person.

6th. After a person has sunk to the bottom, if the water be smooth, the exact position where the body lies may be known by the air-bubbles which will occasionally rise to the surface, allowance being of course made for the motion of the water, if in a tide-way or stream, which will have carried the bubbles out of a perpendicular course in rising to the surface. A body may be often regained from the bottom before too late for recovery, by diving for it in the direction indicated by these bubbles.

7th. On rescuing a person by diving to the bottom, the hair of the head should be seized by one hand only, and the other used in conjunction with the feet in raising yourself and the drowning person to the surface.

8th. If in the sea, it may sometimes be a great error to try to get to land. If there be a strong " outsetting" tide, and you are swimming either by yourself, or having hold of a person who cannot swim, then get on to your back and float till help comes.

Many a man exhausts himself by stemming the billows for the shore on a back-going tide, and sinks in the effort, when, if he had floated, a boat or other aid might have been obtained.

9th. These instructions apply alike to all circumstances, whether the roughest sea or smooth water. JOSEPH R. HODGSON.

Sunderland, Dec. 1858.