about two o'clock in the morning
I first took myself severely to task about it , and then proceeded to seek for the cause of the trouble . I was at first disposed to attribute it to nerve-shock , induced by the occurrences of the preceding twenty-four hours , but a further analysis of my feelings convinced me that my nerves were still to be depended upon as implicitly as ever , and that the real source of my distress lay at my feet , asleep , wrapped up in a sail . Yes ; there could be no doubt about it ; it was on my companion 's account that I was nervous and anxious ; I feared being capsized or swamped simply because of the greatly-increased danger and discomfort that would in that case accrue to _ her _ ! At length -- probably about two o'clock in the morning -- it breezed up so fiercely , and knocked up such a sea that I dared not run the boat any longer , so , watching my chance , I put the helm down and hove-to on the larboard tack , with the boat 's head to the northward , and anxiously awaited the coming of daylight . Soon after this , Miss Onslow awoke , and seemed considerably alarmed at the change in the weather and the wild movements of the boat ; but I managed to reassure her ; and then , observing that I had lashed the port yoke-line , and was no longer doing anything , she suggested that we should change places , and that I should get a little sleep ! After my assurances as to the utter absence of any danger I found it somewhat difficult to make her understand -- without alarming her -- that it was still as urgently necessary as ever for me to watch the boat . At length the dawn came filtering slowly through a murky and rather angry-looking sky , and as the darkness gradually melted away from off the face of the weltering waters I made out the canvas of a large ship , some eight miles off , to leeward .