About two o'clock in the morning
I frequently started , and on seeing two dim lights upon the altar , and on hearing the ceaseless and eternal murmurs going on -- going on -- around me , without being immediately able to ascribe them to their proper cause , I set myself down as a lost man ; for on that terror I was provokingly clear during the whole night . I more than once gave an involuntary groan or shriek , on finding myself in this singular state ; so did many others , and these groans and shrieks were wildly and fearfully contrasted with the never-ending hum , which , like the ceaseless noise of a distant waterfall , went on during the night . The perspiration occasioned by this inconceivable distress , by the heat of the place , and by the unchangeableness of my position , flowed profusely from every core . About two o'clock in the morning an unhappy young man , either in a state of lethargic indifference , or under the influence of these sudden paroxysms , threw himself , or fell from one of the galleries , and was so shattered by the fall that he died next day at twelve o'clock , -- and , what was not much to the credit of the clergymen on the island -- without the benefit of the clergy ; for I saw a priest with his stole and box of chrism finishing off his extreme unction when he was quite dead . This is frequently done in the Church of Rome , under a hope that life may not be utterly extinct , and that consequently the final separation of the soul and body may not have taken place . In this prison , during the night , several persons go about with rods and staves , rapping those on the head whom they see heavy ; snuff-boxes also go around very freely , elbows are jogged , chins chucked , and ears twitched , for the purpose of keeping each other awake . The rods and staves are frequently changed from hand to hand , and I thought it would be a lucky job if I could get one for a little , to enable me to change my position .