noon
Several articles , of no importance to us in our present situation , floated up through the opening during the day , and were immediately washed overboard . We also now observed that the hulk lay more along than ever , so that we could not stand an instant without lashing ourselves . On this account we passed a gloomy and uncomfortable day . At noon the sun appeared to be nearly vertical , and we had no doubt that we had been driven down by the long succession of northward and northwesterly winds into the near vicinity of the equator . Toward evening we saw several sharks , and were somewhat alarmed by the audacious manner in which an enormously large one approached us . At one time , a lurch throwing the deck very far beneath the water , the monster actually swam in upon us , floundering for some moments just over the companion-hatch , and striking Peters violently with his tail . A heavy sea at length hurled him overboard , much to our relief .