Bathes in the Mediterranean1—Meets an unexpected companion—Arrives unintentionally in the regions of heat and darkness, from which he is extricated2 by dancing a hornpipe—Frightens his deliverers, and returns on shore.
I was once in great danger of being lost in a most singular manner in the Mediterranean: I was bathing in that pleasant sea near Marseilles one summer's afternoon, when I discovered a very large fish, with his jaws3 quite extended, approaching me with the greatest velocity4; there was no time to be lost, nor could I possibly avoid him. I immediately reduced myself to as small a size as possible, by closing my feet and placing my hands also near my sides, in which position I passed directly between his jaws, and into his stomach, where I remained some time in total darkness, and comfortably warm, as you may imagine; at last it occurred to me, that by giving him pain he would be glad to get rid of me: as I had plenty of room, I played my pranks5, such as tumbling, hop6, step, and jump, &c., but nothing seemed to disturb him so much as the quick motion of my feet in attempting to dance a hornpipe; soon after I began he put me out by sudden fits and starts: I persevered7; at last he roared horridly8, and stood up almost perpendicularly9 in the water, with his head and shoulders exposed, by which he was discovered by the people on board an Italian trader, then sailing by, who harpooned10 him in a few minutes. As soon as he was brought on board I heard the ............