When we were within, all was dark at first,
and we saw nothing; but presently the creature
opened its mouth, and we beheld a great cavern,
so broad in all directions and so high that it
might have held a city of ten thousand souls. In
the midst lay the fragments of small fish and other animals, sails of ships, anchors, human bones,
and merchandise; and down the middle there
was dry land, with hills formed, I suppose, by the
settling of the mud the creature drank down. At
all events, there were woods on it, and plants of
all sorts grew there and vegetables had sprung
up, so that it was in all respects like tilled soil.
The circumference of the land was twenty-seven
miles. We could also see sea-fowl, gulls, and
halcyons building nests in the trees.