eight o'clock
At evening quarters it was all we could do to stand upright . A number of men left their stations suddenly without permission , and seemed to take great interest in the sea just over the rail . As the sun sank , the wind rose , and with it came rain -- rain in sheets -- the `` wettest '' kind of rain . When the port watch was relieved at eight o'clock , even the veriest landsman among us could tell that the situation was becoming serious . We turned in at once , determining to get all the sleep possible in that pandemonium of sound . The value of hammocks in a heavy sea was proved beyond all peradventure , for once we got into them and closed our eyes , we hardly realized that the ship was almost on her beam ends much of the time . From time to time we were wakened by the crash of a mess chest , as it broke from its lashings and careened around the deck .