about eight o'clock
The southerly wind which had accompanied the _ Giustizia di Dio _ to Cape Salvore suddenly shifted , and a smacking northeasterly breeze began to blow . The whole of that night was a most stormy one ; still , the ship bravely weathered the gale . At dawn the wind began to abate , still the sea was very heavy . At about eight o'clock they perceived a ship , not only in distress , but sinking fast . Milenko at once gave orders to reef the topsails and tack about , so as to be able to approach the wreck , for the sea was by far too heavy to allow them to use their boats . When they managed to get near enough to hear the shouts of the starving crew , they found out that the sinking ship was the _ Ave Maria _ , an Austrian barque . After much manoeuvring they got as close to the stern of the sinking ship as they possibly could .