nine o'clock
I should translate the scream of eagles and the cooing of doves ; I should hear the gossip of my household kittens , and speak familiarly with the mighty hippopotami . The serpent should teach me his traditions , and the multitude of mollusks should develop the mysteries of their sluggish vitality ; nay , the plurality of worlds should be demonstrated , and with the combined intelligences of all the systems , we should wrest the mysteries of life , matter , and eternity from their Divine repository ! `` I lay awake all night revelling in these anticipations , and at dawn was quite weak of body . It was now the Sabbath , and at nine o'clock all hands were summoned to the poop-deck for the customary worship . I lay upon a coil of rope , when the mate commenced to read the service , and a deep drowsiness came over me . The lesson was a part of the first chapter of Genesis -- the weird history of creation . He had reached the twenty-eighth verse when I dropped asleep .