About five in the evening
They were compared to the `` discharge of artillery close at hand , '' and caused a rattling of doors , windows , pictures , and chandeliers . Captain Watson of the _ Charles Bal _ , who chanced to be only 10 miles south of the volcano , also compared the sounds to discharges of artillery , but this only shows the feebleness of ordinary language in attempting to describe such extraordinary sounds , for if they were comparable to close artillery at Batavia , the same comparison is inappropriate at only ten miles ' distance . He also mentions the crackling noise , probably due to the impact of fragments in the atmosphere , which were noticed by the hermit and Nigel while standing stunned and almost stupefied on the giddy ledge of Rakata that same Sunday . About five in the evening of that day , the brig _ Sunshine _ drew still nearer to the island , but the commotion at the time became so intense , and the intermittent darkness so profound , that Captain Roy was afraid to continue the voyage and shortened sail . Not only was there a heavy rolling sea , but the water was seething , as if about to boil . `` Heave the lead , Mr Moor , '' said the captain , who stood beside the wheel . `` Yes , sir , '' answered the imperturbable second mate , who thereupon gave the necessary order , and when the depth was ascertained , the report was `` Ten fathoms , sand , with a hot bottom . ''