_Bathes in the Mediterranean--Meets an unexpected companion--Arrives
unintentionally in the regions of heat and darkness, from which he is
extricated 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
jaws quite extended, approaching me with the greatest velocity; 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 pranks, such as tumbling, hop,
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 persevered; at last he
roared horridly, and stood up almost perpendicularly 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 harpooned him in a few
minutes. As soon as he was brought on board I heard the crew consulting
how they should cut him up, so as to preserve the greatest quantity of
oil. As I understood Italian, I was in most dreadful apprehensions
lest their weapons employed in this business should destroy me also;
therefore I stood as near the centre as possible, for there was room
enough for a dozen men in this creature's stomach, and I naturally
imagined they would begin with the extremities; however, my fears were
soon dispersed, for they began by opening the bottom of the belly. As