midnight
I had little doubt that they were signals of distress from a ship in danger . In half an hour the firing ceased , and I felt the silence more appalling than the dismal sounds which had preceded . `` We hastened on without uttering a word , or daring to communicate our apprehensions . At midnight we arrived on the sea shore at that part of the island . The billows broke against the beach with a horrible noise , covering the rocks and the strand with their foam of a dazzling whiteness , and blended with sparks of fire . By their phosphoric gleams we distinguished , notwithstanding the darkness , the canoes of the fishermen , which they had drawn far upon the sand . `` Near the shore , at the entrance of a wood , we saw a fire , round which several of the inhabitants were assembled .