<h2> CHAPTER VIII </h2>
<p><i>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></p>
<p>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 soon as I perceived a glimmering of
light I called out lustily to be released from a situation in which I was
now almost suffocated. It is impossible for me to do justice to the degree
and kind of astonishment which sat upon every countenance at hearing a
human voice issue from a fish, but more so at seeing a naked man walk
upright out of his body; in short, gentlemen, I told them the whole story,
as I have done you, whilst amazement struck them dumb.</p>
<p>After taking some refreshment, and jumping into the sea to cleanse myself,
I swam to my clothes, which lay where I had left them on the shore. As
near as I can calculate, I was near four hours and a half confined in the
stomach of this animal.</p>
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