midnight
As time passed , however , and the sufferers , instead of feeling relieved , only seemed to be growing worse -- the vertigo and nausea continuing , while the vomiting was renewed in frequent and violent attacks -- they at length became seriously alarmed , believing themselves poisoned to death . They knew not what to do . They had no medicine to act as an antidote ; and if they had been in possession of all the drugs in the pharmacopoeia , they would not have known which to make use of . Had it been the bite of a venomous snake or other reptile , the Malay , acquainted with the usual native remedies , might have found some herbaceous balsam in the forest ; though in the darkness there would have been a difficulty about this , since it was now midnight , and there was no moon in the sky -- no light to look for anything . They could scarcely see one another , and each knew where his neighbours lay only by hearing their moans and other exclamations of distress . As the hours dragged on wearily , they became still more and more alarmed . They seriously believed that death was approaching .