And there I stood with my head and shoulders
out of the water while my lungs inhaled long draughts of pure fresh air.
I was too astonished to think and too weak to move, so I just stood
there motionless until I had regained my equilibrium. I could never
forget how sweet life seemed to me at that time. For a long time I
remained standing there without giving a thought as to what I was
resting upon, and when I did direct my attention to the question I was
incapable of forming a satisfactory solution to the mystery. According
to the charts there was no land in that part of the ocean. Could it be a
whale, I wondered? The more I thought of it the more perplexed I became.
The night was very dark and I could see nothing about me in any
direction, so I concluded that the only thing to do was to remain
standing just where I was until daybreak. It was a long and tedious wait
and I suffered much from stiffness and cold, but at last dawn appeared
and I anxiously strained my eyes, looking about in every direction. Then
my head nearly burst with a feeling of joyousness, for within two
hundred yards of me I discerned the outline of what appeared to be a
hill of rocks protruding from the deep, and as the light grew brighter I
started to wade slowly towards it. This was an extremely tiresome
undertaking, as the bed upon which I had been resting was very rocky and
uneven and I received many bruises before finally reaching its base. My
limbs too were thoroughly numb and almost refused to work, but with each
step ahead the water became shallower and my progress less arduous.
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