1 98 insToiiv OF 



seemed to have assisted him in a very extraordinary manner ; 

 for the spaces between his fingers and tot-si were webbed as in a 

 goose ; and his chest became so very capacious, that he could 

 take in at one inspiration, as nmch breath as would serve Lim 

 tor a whole day. 



" The account of so extraordinary a person did not fail to 

 reach the king himself, who, actuated by the general curiosity, or- 

 ilered that Nicliolas should be brought before him. It was no 

 easy matter to find Nicholas, who generally spent his time in the 

 solitudes of the deep ; but at last, however, after much search- 

 ing, he was found, and brought before his majesty. The curi- 

 osity of this monarch had been long excited by the accounts he 

 had heard of the bottom of the gulf of Charybdis ; he therefore con- 

 ceived that it would be a proper opportunity to have more certain 

 information ; and commanded our poor diver to examine the bot- 

 tom of this dreadful whirlpool : as an incitement to his obedi- 

 ence, he ordered a golden cup to be Hung into it. Nicholas was 

 not insensible of the danger to which he was exposed : danger? 

 best known only to himself; and he therefore presumed to re- 

 monstrate ; but the hopes of the reward, the desire of pleasing 

 the king, and the pleasure of showing his skill, at last prevailed. 

 He instantly jumped into the gulf, and was swallowed as in- 

 stantly up in its bosom. He continued for three quarters of an 

 hour below ; during which time the king and his attendants re- 

 mained upon shore anxious for his fate ; but he at last appeared, 

 buffeting upon the surface, holding the cup in triumph in one 

 hand, and making his way good among the Vi^aves with the other. 

 It may be supposed he was received with applause, upon his ar- 

 rival on shore ; the cup was made the reward of his adventure ; 

 the king ordered him to be taken proper care of: and, as he was 

 somewhat fatigued and debilitated by his labour, after a hearty 

 meal he was put to bed, and permitted to refresh himself by 

 sleeping. 



" When his spirits were thus restored, he was again brought 

 to satisfy the king's curiosity with a narrative of the wonders 

 he had seen ; and his account was to the following effect : — He 

 would never, he said, have obeyed the king's commands, had he 

 been apprised of half the dangers that were before him. There 

 were four things, he said, that rendered the gulf dreadful, not 

 only to men, but even to the lishes themselves; first, the force 



