midnight
The first cry of one of these infants , was almost simultaneous with the splash of its father 's body in the sea . Thus we come and we go . But , surrounded by death , both mothers and babes survived . At midnight , the wind went down ; leaving a long , rolling sea ; and , for the first time in a week , a clear , starry sky . In the first morning-watch , I sat with Harry on the windlass , watching the billows ; which , seen in the night , seemed real hills , upon which fortresses might have been built ; and real valleys , in which villages , and groves , and gardens , might have nestled . It was like a landscape in Switzerland ; for down into those dark , purple glens , often tumbled the white foam of the wave-crests , like avalanches ; while the seething and boiling that ensued , seemed the swallowing up of human beings . By the afternoon of the next day this heavy sea subsided ; and we bore down on the waves , with all our canvas set ; stun ' - sails alow and aloft ; and our best steersman at the helm ; the captain himself at his elbow ; -- bowling along , with a fair , cheering breeze over the taffrail .