he knocked his feet against pieces of plank, and broken
chests, and casks, and heaps of old sails, and fragments of rope piled
up to be turned into oakum, and broken chains, and scraps of iron, and
worn-out brooms and brushes. "I suppose there is an outlet somewhere,
though I cannot yet distinguish it," he said to himself. "These things
have probably been brought up from below; but suppose they have been
only hoisted in through the window, I shall be imprisoned as effectually
as if I had been shut in by bars and bolts, for I certainly cannot make
my escape through the opening by which I entered; I should only fall
into the canal. Dear me! dear me! this is unpleasant. I wish that I
had stayed at home in my old castle. However, wishes are vain things.
I must try to get out somehow or other." Again he began to grope about,
feeling with his hands and feet, but in spite of all efforts could
discover no outlet. "Probably, after all, it will be wiser to sit down
and wait till daylight," he thought. He accordingly sat himself down on
a pile of rope, but he had not sat there long before he heard strange
noises, a clattering and clambering of some creatures or other, and
presently two or three came bounding over his feet.

"Those must be rats," he said to himself. "I have heard of a species
which comes from Norway, great savage creatures, a few dozen of which
would eat up a man at a meal; if I go to sleep they may eat me up, and
that will be objectionable in the highest degree. It is very clear that
I must get out of this if I wish to keep a whole skin in my body. Come!
arouse thee, brave Funnibos! let it not be said that the last of thy
race was eaten up by rats."

He once more got up and resumed his search; as he was feeling about his
hands struck against a large ring: "This perhaps is a trap-door," he
thought. Standing on one side, he pulled with all his might; it
yielded, and he found that he was lifting it up.

"Yes, this is a trap-door, and the means of escape presents itself, but
I must take care that there is a ladder by which to descend, or I may
pitch down head foremost and crack my skull." Stooping over, he
discovered to his satisfaction that there was a ladder, and he
accordingly descended, holding on very tight with his hands, while he
felt with his feet. At last he reached the bottom, and found himself on
a lower story; the windows, however, if there were any, were closed. He
was not much better of