midnight
The fire was extinguished in the only possible manner , by cutting it away from the decks , letting it gently down upon them , deluging it , so that our mast lay charred and blackened after its bath of sea-water , like a mighty serpent stretched along the ship , from stem to stern , and wrapped loosely in its shrouds . It did us good service later , though not by defying the winds of heaven , nor spreading forth its snowy sails to catch the tropic breezes . Before many hours , it was destined to ride the waves in a shape that was certainly never intended by those who chose it among many others -- taper and stately in its group of firs -- to be the chief adornment of a gallant ship , and lift a pointing finger to the stars themselves , as an index of its might , and , with this exception , the hope of those it served -- that of a charred and blackened life raft . The renewed freshness of the atmosphere , and the joyful upspringing of the breezes , alone remained , at midnight , to tell the story of the recent hurricane . These tropic breezes came like benevolent fairies , to aid our groaning Titan in his labors . I can never rid myself for one moment of the idea that an engine really works , with weary , reluctant strength like a genii slave , waiting vengefully for the time of retaliation , which sooner or later is sure to come ; or of the visionary notion that a graceful , gliding ship , with all sails set , receives the same pleasure from its own motion and beauty that a snow-white swan must do `` as down she bears before the gale , '' with her white plumage and stately crest . I think , if ever I am called to give a toast , it shall be `` Sail-ships ; may their shadows never be less ! ''