Having come to this resolve, I again felt about for
      the phosphorus-box and tapers. The former I found after some
      little trouble; but, not discovering the tapers as soon as I had
      expected (for I remembered very nearly the spot in which I had
      placed them), I gave up the search for the present, and bidding
      Tiger lie quiet, began at once my journey toward the trap. In this attempt my great feebleness became more than ever
      apparent. It was with the utmost difficulty I could crawl along
      at all, and very frequently my limbs sank suddenly from beneath
      me; when, falling prostrate on my face, I would remain for some
      minutes in a state bordering on insensibility. Still I struggled
      forward by slow degrees, dreading every moment that I should
      swoon amid the narrow and intricate windings of the lumber, in
      which event I had nothing but death to expect as the result. At
      length, upon making a push forward with all the energy I could
      command, I struck my forehead violently against the sharp corner
      of an iron-bound crate. The accident only stunned me for a few
      moments; but I found, to my inexpressible grief, that the quick
      and violent roll of the vessel had thrown the crate entirely
      across my path, so as effectually to block up the passage. With
      my utmost exertions I could not move it a single inch from its
      position, it being closely wedged in among the surrounding boxes
      and ship-furniture. It became necessary, therefore, enfeebled as
      I was, either to leave the guidance of the whipcord and seek out
      a new passage, or to climb over the obstacle, and resume the path
      on the other side. The former alternative presented too many
      difficulties and dangers to be thought of without a shudder. In
      my present weak state of both mind and body, I should infallibly
      lose my way if I attempted it, and perish miserably amid the
      dismal and disgusting labyrinths of the hold. I proceeded,
      therefore, without hesitation, to summon up all my remaining
      strength and fortitude, and endeavour, as I best might, to
      clamber over the crate. Upon standing erect, with this end in view, I found the
      undertaking even a more serious task than my fears had led me to
      imagine. On each side of the narrow passage arose a complete wall
      of various heavy lumber, which the least blunder on my part might
      be the means of bringing down upon my head; or, if this accident
      did not occur, the path might be effectually blocked up against
      my return by the descending mass, as it was in front by the
      obstacle there. The crate itself was a long and unwieldy box,
      upon which no foothold could be obtained. In vain I attempted, by
      every means in my power, to reach the top, with the hope of being
      thus enabled to draw myself up. Had I succeeded in reaching it,
      it is certain that my strength would have proved utterly
      inadequate to the task of getting over, and it was better in
      every respect that I failed. At length, in a desperate effort to
      force the crate from its ground, I felt a strong vibration in the
      side next me. I thrust my hand eagerly to the edge of the planks,
      and found that a very large one was loose. With my pocket-knife,
      which, luckily, I had with me, I succeeded, after great labour,
      in prying it entirely off; and getting it through the aperture,
      discovered, to my exceeding joy, that there were no boards on the
      opposite side—in other words, that the top was wanting, it being
      the bottom through which I had forced my way. I now met with no
      important difficulty in proceeding along the line until I finally
      reached the nail. With a beating heart I stood erect, and with a
      gentle touch pressed against the cover of the trap. It did not
      rise as soon as I had expected, and I pressed it with somewhat
      more determination, still dreading lest some other person than
      Augustus might be in his state-room. The door, however, to my
      astonishment, remained steady, and I became somewhat uneasy, for
      I knew that it had formerly required but little or no effort to
      remove it. I pushed it strongly—it was nevertheless firm: with
      all my strength—it still did not give way: with rage, with fury,
      with despair—it set at defiance my utmost efforts; and it was
      evident, from the unyielding nature of the resistance, that the
      hole had either been discovered and effectually nailed up, or
      that some immense weight had been placed upon it, which it was
      useless to think of removing. My sensations were those of extreme horror and dismay. In vain I
      attempted to reason on the probable cause of my being thus
      entombed. I could summon up no connected chain of reflection,
      and, sinking on the floor, gave way, unresistingly, to the most
      gloomy imaginings, in which the dreadful deaths of thirst,
      famine, suffocation, and premature interment crowded upon me as
      the prominent disasters to be encountered. At length there
      returned to me some portion of presence of mind. I arose, and
      felt with my fingers for the seams or cracks of the aperture. Having found them, I examined them closely to ascertain if they
      emitted any light from the state-room; but none was visible. I
      then forced the blade of my pen-knife through them, until I met
      with some hard obstacle. Scraping against it, I discovered it to
      be a solid mass of iron, which, from its peculiar wavy feel as I
      passed the blade along it, I concluded to be a chain-cable. The
      only course now left me was to retrace my way to the box, and
      there either yield to my sad fate, or try so to tranquilize my
      mind as to admit of my arranging some plan of escape. I
      immediately set about the attempt, and succeeded, after
      innumerable difficulties, in getting back. As I sank, utterly
      exhausted, upon the mattress, Tiger threw himself at full length
      by my side, and seemed as if desirous, by his caresses, of
      consoling me in my troubles, and urging me to bear them with
      fortitude. The singularity of his behavior at length forcibly arrested my
      attention. After licking my face and hands for some minutes, he
      would suddenly cease doing so, and utter a low whine. Upon
      reaching out my hand toward him, I then invariably found him
      lying on his back, with his paws uplifted. This conduct, so
      frequently repeated, appeared strange, and I could in no manner
      account for it. As the dog seemed distressed, I concluded that he
      had received some injury; and, taking his paws in my hands, I
      examined them one by one, but found no sign of any hurt.