illiant blue of the sky gradually fading to a
colourless pallor, as though a succession of veils of white gauze was
being drawn across it, while the clouds, sailing up out of the
north-east, paused in their flight and began to bank up in the
south-west quarter. These changes continued throughout the afternoon,
the result being that the sun gradually became blotted out, and was
entirely obscured about an hour and a half before the time of sunset.
And with the disappearance of the sun the wind sank until it died away
altogether and the schooner lost steerage way, while the heavens assumed
a dark, lowering appearance, and the atmosphere became close,
suffocating, and so oppressively hot that even the thinnest and lightest
of clothing was an almost unendurable burden, and every article was
dispensed with that could be discarded without outraging decency. But
although the wind had completely died away, the swell did not diminish;
on the contrary, it seemed if anything to increase, for the schooner
rolled and plunged most outrageously, shipping water over her rails, her
bows, and even her taffrail, the water seeming to heap itself up
suddenly and fall aboard her in the most extraordinary and unexpected
manner. It was evident that a change of weather was impending, and, as
the mercury clearly indicated that the change would be for the worse, I
caused the schooner to be stripped just before darkness set in, leaving
only the reefed foresail and fore staysail set, under which short canvas
I believed she could not come to much harm, let the impending weather be
what it might.

A quarter of an hour after the time of sunset the darkness was so
intense that for all practical purposes we might as well have been
blind, for at a distance of ten or twelve feet from the illuminated
cabin skylight it was literally impossible to see one's hand when held
close before one's eyes; while between the darkness and the violently
uneasy motions of the little hooker it was positively dangerous to
attempt to move about the decks. As for staying below, it was out of
the question, for the cabins were like so many ovens; therefore, after
supper was over, Cunningham and I both returned to the deck, and,
seating ourselves on the wheel grating beside the lashed wheel, chatted
together while the engineer smoked pipe after pipe.

It happened to be my eight hours in, that night; therefore, since it was
hopeless to think of sleeping in my bunk on such a h