noon
Lindsay and I relieved each other at the tiller , watch and watch , with one hand forward to keep a lookout ahead and to leeward , the rest of the poor fellows being so thoroughly worn out by their long spell at the pumps that rest and sleep was an even more imperative necessity for them than it was for us . By the time of sunrise the wind had dwindled away to a topgallant breeze , with a corresponding reduction in the amount of sea ; we were therefore enabled to shake out the double reef that we had thus far been compelled to carry in our canvas , while the aspect of the sky was more promising than it had been for several days past . The weather was now as favourable as we could possibly wish , the wind being just fresh enough to send us along at top speed , gunwale-to , under whole canvas , while the sea was going down rapidly . But , as the day wore on , the improvement in the weather progressed just a little too far ; it became even finer than we wished it , the wind continuing to drop steadily , until by noon we were sliding over the long , mountainous swell at a speed of barely four knots , with the hot sun beating down upon us far too ardently to be pleasant . Needless to say , we kept a sharp lookout for a sail all through the day , but saw nothing ; the flying-fish that sparkled out from the ridges of the swell and went skimming away to port and starboard , gleaming as brilliantly in the strong sunlight as a handful of new silver dollars , being the only objects to break the solitude that environed us . By sunset that day the wind had died completely out , leaving the ocean a vast surface of slow-moving , glassy undulations , and I was reluctantly compelled to order the canvas to be taken in , the masts to be struck , and the oars to be thrown out . Then , indeed , as the night closed down upon us and the stars came winking , one by one , out of the immeasurable expanse of darkening blue above us , the silence of the vast ocean solitude that hemmed us in became a thing that might be felt .