midday
And beyond this , I could make out but little , because of the distance ; though the sun , which was upon our larboard side , gave me some sight of her hull , but not much , because of the weed in which she was deeply embedded ; yet it seemed to me that her sides were very weather-worn , and in one place some glistening brown object , which may have been a fungus , caught the rays of the sun , sending off a wet sheen . There we stood , all of us , upon the thwarts , staring and exchanging opinions , and were like to have overset the boat ; but that the bo ` sun ordered us down . And after this we made our breakfast , and had much discussion regarding the stranger , as we ate . Later , towards midday , we were able to set our mizzen ; for the storm had greatly modified , and so , presently , we hauled away to the West , to escape a great bank of the weed which ran out from the main body . Upon rounding this , we let the boat off again , and set the main lug , and thus made very good speed before the wind . Yet though we ran all that afternoon parallel with the weed to starboard , we came not to its end . And three separate times we saw the hulks of rotting vessels , some of them having the appearance of a previous age , so ancient did they seem .