noon
Then , though my present valiant mood might ignore the adverse chances , they were as one hundred to a single chance of deliverance . Our burning had brought no ship to our succor ; and how should I , a mere speck amid the waves , bring one to mine ? Moreover , I was all but motionless ; I was barely drifting at all . This I saw from a few objects which were floating around me now at noon ; they had been with me when the high sun rose . One was , I think , the very oar which had been my first support ; another was a sailor 's cap ; but another , which floated nearer , was new to me , as though it had come to the surface while my eyes were turned inwards . And this was clearly the case ; for the thing was a drowned and bloated corpse . It fascinated me , though not with extraordinary horror ; it came too late to do that .