noon
The atmospheric air being heated by the solar orb at the equator , where its force is necessarily the greatest , ascends . This creates a vacuum , which the surrounding air hastens to fill , causing thus a constant indraught from both the north and south towards the equator ; and the fact of the opposing winds meeting at this point produces those very calms which vex us poor mariners . There , Master Tom , that 's all I can tell you ; for , I must see about my sextant now to consult the great luminary we have been talking of , so as to see where our scudding has taken us to . '' Captain Miles 's mission after his sextant , however , was a vain quest to - day , for a mass of fleeting clouds were continually passing to and fro across the zenith , obscuring the heavens so much that not a single peep of the sun could be had either at noon or later on . The wind now , too , began to come in violent gusts , striking the ship every now and then with a force that seemed to bury her in the water ; while the sea got rougher and rougher , looking as angry as it was possible to conceive . Presently , with a loud report , the main-topsail split in half , and then the pieces blew away bit by bit ahead of the ship like paper kites , the useful foretop-sail which had been again set in the afternoon being now the only sail left on her ; but , still , on she plunged through the waste of waters as madly as ever , the sky getting more and more overcast as the day wore on , and a heavy bank of blue-black clouds gathered together right in front , to the north-west , whither we were trending . `` Do n't you think , captain , '' said Mr Marline , who had returned to the poop after having a short rest below -- he having remained on deck while the captain had turned in during the early part of the morning watch -- `` I say , do n't you think we 're running into the very jaws of the gale again ? ''