easily; and, in consequence of his making an over-effort, his balance
became deranged; his feet, ill-planted upon the slippery skin, flew
simultaneously from beneath him; and he came down upon the side of the
leviathan with a loud "slap,"--similar to what might have been heard had
he fallen upon half-thawed ice.

Unpleasant as this mishap may have been, it was not the worst that might
have befallen him on that occasion. Nor was it the fall itself that
caused him to "sing out" at the top of his voice, and in accents
betokening a terrible alarm.

What produced this manifestation was a peril of far more fearful kind,
which at the moment menaced him.

The spot where the harpoon had been sticking was in the side of the
_cachalot_, and, as the carcass lay, a broad space around the weapon
presented an inclined plane, sloping abruptly towards the water.
Lubricated as it was with the secreted oil of the animal, it was smooth
as glass. Upon this slope Snowball had been standing; and upon it had
he fallen.

But the impetus of the fall not only hindered him from lying where he
had gone down, but also from being able to get up again; and, instead of
doing either one or the other, he commenced sliding down the slippery
surface of the leviathan's body, where it shelved towards the water.

Good heavens! what was to become of him? A score of sharks were just
below,--waiting for him with hungry jaws, and eyes glancing greedily
upward. Seeing the two men mounted upon the carcass of the whale, and
one wielding an axe, they had gathered upon that side,--in the belief
that the _flensing_ was about to begin!

It was a slight circumstance that saved the sea-cook from being eaten
up,--not only raw, but alive. Simply the circumstance of his having
held on to the harpoon. Had he dropped that weapon on falling, it would
never have been grasped by him again. Fortunately, he had the presence
of mind to hold on to it; or perhaps the tenacity was merely mechanical.
Whatever may have been the reason, he _did_ hold on. Fortunately,
also, he was gliding down on the side _opposite_ to that on which
floated the "drogue."

These two circumstances saved him.

When about half-way to the water,--and still sliding rapidly
downwards,--his progress was suddenly arrested, or rather impeded,--for
he was not altogether brought to a stop,--by a circumstance as
unexpected as it was fortunate. That was the tightening of the line
attached to the han