midnight
And so we lay there , hour after hour , now flung aloft until the whole ocean to the limits of the horizon lay spread around us , anon sweeping down the back of some giant billow until it seemed that the boat was about to plunge to the ocean 's bed , and the passage of every hour was marked by an increasing greyness and haggardness in the faces of my companions , while a more hopelessly despairing expression came into their eyes . At length , however , shortly before sunset , a welcome break appeared in the sky to windward ; a gleam of watery , yellow light spread along the horizon ; the pall of murky vapour broke up into detached masses ; small but gradually widening patches of blue sky appeared here and here ; and finally we got a momentary glimpse of the sun through a break in the clouds , just as the great luminary was on the point of sinking below the western horizon . We greeted the blessed sight with a cheer of reviving hope , for we knew that the gale was breaking , and that with the moderating of the wind and sea we should once again be able to take some active steps toward our preservation ; while , apart from that , the finer weather would at least afford us some relief from our present suffering and misery . About half an hour later there was a noticeable diminution in the strength of the wind , which by midnight had become merely a moderate breeze . The sea no longer broke dangerously , the sky cleared , the stars beamed benignantly down upon us , and there was every prospect of our being able to resume our voyage on the morrow . But although , so far as the weather was concerned , matters were greatly improving with us , our suffering from cold was still very acute , for the night wind seemed to penetrate right through our wet clothes and to strike colder than ice upon our skins that were now burning with fever . As for me , I envied my more fortunate companions who were able to sleep .