midnight
On reaching the deck I found that the wind had hauled round to about W.N.W. , bringing with it a raw and dismal fog , which speedily saturated with moisture everything with which it came in contact . As the night wore on , it became more and more dense , and by midnight it had become so thick that it was impossible to see from one end of the ship to the other , and Captain Brisac gave orders for the `` Scourge '' to be hove-to . The vessel was accordingly brought to the wind on the starboard tack , with her head pointing in the direction of the French coast , and the watch , with the exception of half-a-dozen of the smartest hands , who were placed on the lookout , were allowed to dispose themselves about the deck in the most sheltered spots they could find . The fog lasted all through the first watch , and when I went on deck at midnight to take my turn of duty , it was thicker than ever . The vapour came sweeping down upon the ship in great opaque masses , some of which were so dense that it was barely possible to distinguish objects on the opposite side of the deck , while the lower yards were only visible from the deck at very rare periods . The few men moving about loomed more like gigantic shadows than human beings , and the binnacle lamps -LRB- the only lights visible -RRB- emitted a feeble and ghostly glimmer which hardly sufficed to render visible the features of the man who stood by the wheel . No lights of any kind were exhibited on board the `` Scourge , '' Captain Brisac preferring to trust to a good lookout , and the precautions adopted by other vessels , for our safety from collision , rather than run the risk of betraying our presence to an enemy by the exhibition of lights .