about nine o'clock
For the next three days I continued to occupy my bunk , my strength returning slowly ; but on the fourth I made shift , with Lemaitre 's assistance , to get into my clothes , and crawl on deck ; and from that moment my progress toward recovery was rapid . Meanwhile , the `` hazing '' of which I have spoken continued at regular intervals , day and night , and I soon ascertained that the individual responsible for it was none other than the Francois who so kindly suggested that I should be hove overboard to the sharks . This fellow was evidently a born bully ; he never opened his mouth to deliver an order without abusing and insulting the men , and as often as not the abuse was accentuated with blows , the sounds of which , and the accompanying cries of the men , I could distinctly hear in my cabin . That , however , was hardly the worst of it ; for I soon discovered that Lemaitre , the skipper of this precious craft in which such doings were permitted , was a drunkard ; for every night , at about nine o'clock , I used to hear him come below , and order out the rum and water ; after which he and Francois , or the second mate , -- according to whose watch below it happened to be , -- would sit for about an hour , drinking one against the other , until the language of both became incoherent , when the pair of them would stagger and stumble off to their respective staterooms . This was my first experience of a slaver , and a most unpleasant experience it was . The vessel herself , -- a schooner of one hundred and twenty tons register , -- although superbly modelled , a magnificent sea - boat , and sailing like a witch , was rendered uncomfortable in the extreme as an abode by her filthy condition . Cleanliness seemed to be regarded by Lemaitre as a wholly unnecessary luxury , with the result that no effort was made to keep in check the steady accumulation of dirt from day to day , much less to remove that which already existed .