8 P.M.
Sprawling over the table with arrested pen , he glanced out of the door , and in that frame of his vision he saw all the stars flying upwards between the teakwood jambs on a black sky . The whole lot took flight together and disappeared , leaving only a blackness flecked with white flashes , for the sea was as black as the sky and speckled with foam afar . The stars that had flown to the roll came back on the return swing of the ship , rushing downwards in their glittering multitude , not of fiery points , but enlarged to tiny discs brilliant with a clear wet sheen . Jukes watched the flying big stars for a moment , and then wrote : `` 8 P.M. Swell increasing . Ship labouring and taking water on her decks . Battened down the coolies for the night . Barometer still falling . ''