an hour
before noon
As it was , we shipped so much water that it was as much as three of us could do -- that being all who could work in the opening at one time -- to keep her from filling . To add still further to our misery , we were one and all by this time dead tired , worn out , in fact , with the terror and anxiety of the past night ; yet we dared not yet attempt to seek the comfort and refreshment of sleep , for our critical situation continued to demand our utmost watchfulness and our unremitting exertions ; and when at length we sought to renew our strength by means of a meal , the grievous discovery was made that the whole of our small stock of ship 's bread was spoiled and rendered uneatable by the salt water . And , as though this misfortune was not in itself sufficiently serious , when we sought to quench our thirst we discovered that the bung of the water-breaker had somehow got out of the bung-hole , allowing so much salt water to mingle with our small stock of fresh that the latter had been rendered almost undrinkable . Our first gleam of hope and encouragement came to us about half an hour before noon that day , when our anxious watching was rewarded by the appearance of a small , momentary break in the sky , low down toward the horizon to windward ; it showed but for a moment , and then was lost again . But presently a wider and more pronounced break appeared which did _ not _ vanish ; on the contrary , it widened , until presently a fitful gleam of wan and watery sunshine pierced through it and lighted up the bleak , desolate expanse of raging ocean for a few seconds . And almost simultaneously with the welcome appearance of this transient but welcome gleam of pallid sunshine , we became aware of a slight but unmistakable diminution in the fury of the gale ; a change productive of such profound relief to us , worn out as we all were by long-protracted toil and anxiety , that we actually greeted it with a feeble cheer ! Nor was the hope thus aroused fallacious ; for from this moment the sky began to clear , until within a couple of hours the storm-clouds had all swept away to leeward , leaving the sky a clear , pure blue , streaked here and there , it is true , with a tattered , trailing streamer of pinky grey , that , however , soon vanished ; and once more we revelled in the glorious warmth and radiance of the unclouded sunlight , while the wind dropped so rapidly that , but for the sea , which still ran with dangerous weight , we might have made sail again by sunset .