three o'clock in the afternoon
Towards three o'clock , the lower part of the fog began to clear , and they could see the sea again . A mist can only be dispersed by the sun or the wind . By the sun is well ; by the wind is not so well . At three o'clock in the afternoon , in the month of February , the sun is always weak . A return of the wind at this critical point in a voyage is not desirable . It is often the forerunner of a hurricane . If there was any breeze , however , it was scarcely perceptible .