About ten o'clock
For the first two days we went along merrily enough with a fine steady breeze , and tolerably smooth water , but , on the afternoon of the third , the sky again became overcast , and there was every appearance of another `` round turn '' in the wind . As night closed in around us , the captain hailed us from the launch , and desired us to keep as near together as possible , for fear of separation . This order was obeyed as long as we were able ; but , in the darkness , we soon lost sight of each other , and the sound of our voices was drowned in the increasing noise of wind and sea . About ten o'clock , the wind suddenly shifted in a sharp squall ; the sail was taken aback , and the little boat lay over for a moment as if never to rise again . Fortunately the haulyards gave way , and the sail went overboard , or she must have been capsized ; as it was , she was nearly half-full of water . I immediately jumped forward to drag the sail in again , when , to my horror , I heard the sound of voices crying for help , to leeward : the sail had knocked two of the men overboard , and it was their dying cry we heard . We pulled round the boat , and shouted out to them ; there was no answer -- they were gone ; they must have been half-drowned before they could get clear of the sail , which had fallen on the top of them .