while perspiration poured from us in
streams that we could distinctly feel trickling down our bodies and
limbs. So enervating were the conditions that none of us cared to make
the slightest unnecessary movement; yet the steady decline of the
mercury was a warning that I dared not ignore. Accordingly, at eight
bells in the afternoon watch, when Enderby took charge of the deck, I
showed him the barometer, expressed the conviction that we were in for a
typhoon, and instructed him to set all hands to the task of stripping
the ship to a close-reefed topsail, reefed fore topmast-staysail, and
close-reefed main trysail.

When the boatswain went for'ard and gave the necessary orders, the men
received them, as I had quite expected, with black looks, muttered
curses, and inarticulate growls; but the sight of Chips and me lowering
and stowing the big mainsail while they surlily slouched about the deck,
letting go halliards, clewing up and hauling down; and perhaps, more
than all, the aspect of the heavens, conveying a message that no man
could misinterpret, caused them somewhat to modify their attitude, and
by four bells the ship was as nearly ready for what might come as we
could make her.

But our preparations were completed not a moment too soon, for we were
in a latitude where twilight is unknown, and with the disappearance of
the sun below the horizon there closed down upon us a darkness that
might literally be felt, for any attempt to move about the decks, well
as we believed ourselves to be acquainted with them, resulted in
constant collisions with unexpected obstacles.

This bewildering state of affairs continued until shortly after five
bells in the first watch, when we became aware that the atmosphere was
being subtly and gradually suffused with ruddy light, coming from we
knew not where. The change was so gradual that it was impossible to say
just when it began, but within half an hour of our first perception of
it the light had grown so strong that not only were we able to move
about freely without running foul of things but, standing aft by the
useless wheel and looking forward, every detail of the ship's hull,
spars, sails, and rigging stood out clearly and sharply, like a
silhouette cut out of black paper, against a background of shining oil-
smooth water and dense masses of twisting and writhing cloud-shapes all
reflecting the weird, mysterious ruddy light. It was an awe-inspiring
phenomenon, strongly sugges