midnight
They , too , must provide themselves with food , and their opportunities have become narrowed -- are almost gone . They might have starved ere this , but for their prudent forethought in having secreted a stock in the tent . They do not dare to have a meal cooked during daylight , as some of the savages are always on the alert to snatch at anything eatable with bold , open hand . Only in the midnight hours , when the Fuegians are in their wigwams , has `` the doctor '' a chance to give the cured fish a hurried broil over the fire . It is needless to say that all work on the boat is suspended . In the face of their great fear , with a future so dark and doubtful , the builders have neither the courage nor heart to carry on their work . It is too much a question whether it may ever be resumed .