noon
Whether this is really the true explanation of the curiously awkward phenomenon of which I have spoken I can not say ; but I know that the phenomenon occurs , and that it placed us in the direst peril at least half a hundred times during that never-to-be-forgotten night , a peril from which , it appeared to me , we each time escaped by the very skin of our teeth , and by what seemed to be nothing short of a series of miracles . True , we are told that the days of miracles are long past ; but , after all , who knows ? All through the night , and until nearly noon next day , were we compelled to continue scudding before the gale ; and a pretty crew of scarecrows we looked when the morning at length dawned and disclosed us to each other 's vision , drenched to the skin with flying spray , haggard and red-eyed with fatigue and the want of sleep , and each wearing that peculiar and indescribable expression of countenance that marks the man who has been face to face for hours with imminent death . But about four bells in the forenoon watch the gale suddenly broke , the sky cleared , and the wind moderated so rapidly that just before noon , by carefully watching our opportunity , we were at length able to round-to and once more ride to our makeshift sea anchor . Then , the boat riding dry -- that is to say , shipping no water -- we baled her out , and next proceeded to overhaul our stock of provisions , with the object of ascertaining what damage , if any , it had sustained through the constant drenching of the seas to which we had been exposed . Our bread -- or biscuit -- and water were all that we were really anxious about , the remainder being packed in tins , jars , or bottles , and it was a great relief to us to find that , thanks to the precautions which we had taken , nothing had suffered to any very serious extent . Then I went to work to calculate our position as nearly as I could , although the roughness of my data rendered it exceedingly difficult to arrive anywhere near the mark ; but at length , by patient and careful figuring , I reached the exceedingly unsatisfactory conclusion that not only had we lost all the ground previously gained , but we were somewhere about thirty miles south of the spot where Bainbridge had sent us adrift !