inconvenient one to us just then.

"We were, indeed, in a pretty fix, for we could not tell how long he
might take to sleep; judging by his size, a year or so would have
sufficed merely for a morning's nap, and we might all be starved before
we could hope to get free. We were in a complete lake, do ye see, and
the Diddleus was like a child's toy floating in the middle of it. It
made us feel very small, I can assure you. I considered that the best
thing we could do, under the circumstances, would be to heave-to near
his head, so that, should he in his sleep let his tail slip from between
his teeth, we might have time to beat round his jaws.

"When, however, we got near his head, the crew were so frightened with
its terrific appearance, that I saw that there would be a regular
mutiny, or that in their terror they would all be jumping overboard, if
I did not bear up again pretty quickly.

"We had an old fellow on board, Joe Hobson by name, who was considered
an oracle by the crew, and he added to their fears by telling them that
he had often heard of these big sea-serpents before, and that, as they
usually slept a dozen years or so on a stretch, we should be certainly
starved before we could get out. I had, however, no fear about
starving, because I knew we could catch fish enough for our support, and
I had a plan by which I hoped, if he did sleep on, we might escape. To
occupy the time I ran down alongside the head and shoulders, and then
beat up again round by the tail end, and this survey, though we had a
strong breeze, occupied fully three days.

"I now resolved to put into execution my plan, which was simply to cut a
channel for the ship right through the serpent's back. I considered
that one deep enough to float the ship would be like a mere scratch on
the skin to him, and would not wake him. I took, however, a precaution
few would have thought of. The surgeon had a cask of laudanum, so,
lowering it into a boat, with a few brave fellows as volunteers, we
pulled right up to the serpent's mouth. I had a line fast to the bung.
Watching our opportunity, when the serpent lifted his jaws a little, we
let the cask float into his mouth. I then pulled the line--the bung
came out, and the laudanum, of course, ran down his throat.

"Now, I do not mean to say that under ordinary circumstances that
quantity could have had any effect on so large a beast, for there was
only a hogshead of it; but the doctor observed he