ld not be
more than six or eight feet thick, as I had sufficient light to
distinguish the day from the night. Afterwards my eye-sight became so
much more acute, that I could see very well to every corner of the cave
in which I was embedded.

During the first month the calls of hunger obliged me to make frequent
attacks upon the carcase of the sea-horse; after that, my appetite
decreased, until at length I would not touch a mouthful of food in a
week,--I presume from the want of fresh air and exercise, neither of
which I could be said to enjoy. I had been about two months in this
hole, when a violent shock like that of an earthquake took place, and I
fell from the top of the cave to the bottom, and for a minute was
knocked about like a pea in a rattle. I had almost lost my senses before
it was over, and I found myself lying upon what was before the top of
the cave. From these circumstances I inferred that the iceberg in which
I was inclosed had come in contact with another, and that I had been
broken off from it, and was floating on the sea with other pieces,
which, when collected in large quantities, are termed a floe of ice.
Whether my situation was changed for the better I knew not, but the
change inspired me with fresh hopes. I now calculated that five months
had elapsed, and that it was the depth of winter, therefore I had no
chance of being released until the ensuing spring.

* * * * *

"Allah Wakbar, God is every where!" interrupted the pacha. "But I wish
to know, Huckaback, how you were so exactly aware of the time which had
passed away."

"Min Bashi, and head of thousands!" replied Huckaback, "I will explain
to your highness. I once jammed my nail at the bottom, and I expected to
lose it. It did not however come off, but grew up as before, and I had
the curiosity to know how often people changed their nails in the course
of a year. It was exactly two months, and from this I grounded my
calculations. I observed specks on my nails, and as they grew up, so did
I calculate time."

"Mashallah, how wonderful is God! Wallah Thaib! Well said, by Allah! I
never should have thought of that," observed the pacha. "Proceed with
your story."

* * * * *

The five months had elapsed, according to my calculations, when one
morning I heard a grating noise close to me; soon afterwards I perceived
the teeth of a saw entering my domicile, and I correctly judged t