about two o'clock
Kicked and struck on the slightest pretext , and compelled to perform the most disgusting offices , I soon felt myself a degraded being both in body and mind ; and when I thought of what I had been on board the _ Juno _ , and what I now was , I shrunk from making the comparison . But I was to obtain relief in a way I little expected . I was in the second mate 's watch . Early one morning , about four bells in the middle watch -- that is to say , about two o'clock -- I had just been relieved from my trick at the helm . The weather was thick and squally , and the night very dark . The look-out was careless , or had bad eyesight ; and the mate , knowing this , was constantly going forward himself . I was leisurely going along the deck , when I heard him sing out , -- `` A sail on the starboard-bow !