about eleven o’clock
He remained for a quarter of an hour , then after silently pressing my hand , he returned to his old post . I laid myself down in the narrow space at my disposal , and tried to sleep ; but my mind was filled with strange forebodings , and sleep was impossible . The very calmness of the atmosphere was oppressive ; scarcely a breath of air vibrated through the metal rigging , and yet the sea rose with a heavy swell as though it felt the warnings of a coming tempest . All at once , at about eleven o'clock , the moon burst brightly forth through a rift in the clouds , and the waves sparkled again as if illumined by a submarine glimmer . I start up and look around me . Is it merely imagination ? or do I really see a black speck floating on the dazzling whiteness of the waters , a speck that can not be a rock ; because it rises and falls with the heaving motion of the billows ?