found
that he was within his depth. But the shore shelved so gradually that
for nearly a mile he had to wade wearily through shallow water, till,
fainting almost with fatigue, he reached dry land.

By this time darkness was coming on, and there were no signs of houses
or of people. He staggered forward but a little distance, and then, on
the short, soft turf, sank down exhausted and slept.

When he woke, the sun was shining, and he tried to rise; but not by
any means could he stir hand or foot. Gulliver had fallen asleep lying
on his back, and now he found that his arms and legs were tightly
fastened to the ground. Across his body were numbers of thin but
strong cords, and even his hair, which was very long, was pegged down
so securely that he could not turn his head.

All round about him there was a confused sound of voices, but he could
see nothing except the sky, and the sun shone so hot and fierce into
his eyes that he could scarcely keep them open.

Soon he felt something come gently up his left leg, and forward on to
his breast almost to his chin. Looking down as much as possible, he
saw standing there a very little man, not more than six inches high,
armed with a bow and arrows.

Then many more small men began to swarm over him. Gulliver let out
such a roar of wonder and fright that they all turned and ran, many of
them getting bad falls in their hurry to get out of danger. But very
quickly the little people came back again.

This time, with a great struggle Gulliver managed to break the cords
that fastened his left arm, and at the same time, by a violent wrench
that hurt him dreadfully, he slightly loosened the strings that
fastened his hair, so that he was able to turn his head a little to
one side. But the little men were too quick for him, and got out of
reach before he could catch any of them.

Then he heard a great shouting, followed by a shrill little voice that
called sharply, "_Tolgo phonac_," and immediately, arrows like needles
were shot into his hand, and another volley struck him in the face.
Poor Gulliver covered his face with his hand, and lay groaning with
pain.

Again he struggled to get loose. But the harder he fought for freedom,
the more the little men shot arrows into him, and some of them even
tried to run their spears into his sides.

When he found that the more he struggled the more he was hurt,
Gulliver lay still, thinking to himself that at night at least, now
that his left