8 o'clock a.m.
And -- talking of sharks -- have you noticed how often we have seen the beggars following us since we have been in this ship ? I suppose her timbers have become saturated , as it were , with the odour of the slaves she has carried , and so -- but , hillo ! what has happened to the barometer ? '' I glanced at the instrument , which , together with a tell-tale compass , swung from the skylight transoms , and saw that the mercury had sunk in the tube to the extent of nearly an inch since the last setting of the vernier ; and , as it was our custom in the Slave Squadron at that time to set the instrument at 8 o'clock a.m. and 8 o'clock p.m. , it meant that the mercury had fallen to that extent during the night ! What was about to happen ? I had observed nothing portentous in the aspect of the weather , while on deck , unless , indeed , the softening away of the trade - wind and the hazy condition of the atmosphere might be regarded as portents . Yet that could hardly be , for I had observed the same phenomena before , yet nothing particular had come of it .