an hour after
noon
A change of some sort was brewing , I felt certain , and I was somewhat surprised that , with such a sky above us , the atmosphere should remain so absolutely stagnant . As the day wore on , the thin , scarcely perceptible veil of vapour that had dimmed the richness of the sky tints in the early morning gradually thickened and seemed to be assuming somewhat of a distinctness of shape . I just succeeded in securing the meridian altitude of the sun , for the determination of our latitude , but that was all . Half an hour after noon the haze had grown so dense that the great luminary showed through it merely as a shapeless blur of pale , watery radiance , and within another hour he had disappeared altogether from the overcast sky . Still the wind failed to come to our help ; the atmosphere seemed to be dead , so absolutely motionless was it ; and although the sun had vanished behind the murky vapours that were stealthily and imperceptibly veiling the firmament , the heat was so distressing that the perspiration streamed from every pore , the manipulation of the oars grew more and more languid , and at length , as though actuated by a common impulse , the men gave in , declaring that they were utterly exhausted and could do no more . And I could well believe their assertion , for even I , whose exertions were limited to the steering of the boat , felt that even such slight labour was almost too arduous to be much longer endured . The oars were accordingly laid in , we went to dinner , and then the men flung themselves down in the bottom of the boat , and , with their pipes clenched between their teeth , fell fast asleep , an example which was quickly followed by Lindsay and myself , despite all our efforts to the contrary .