midnight
The mutterings and grumblings increased until , with one peal that made the ship tremble as though she had just struck a rock at full speed , down came the rain . The windows of heaven were opened , and no man might stand against the steaming flood that descended by thousands of tons per minute . How long it continued , I can not say ; probably , in its utmost fierceness , not more than half an hour . Then it slowly abated , clearing away as it did so the accumulation of gloom overhead , until , before midnight had struck , all the heavenly host were shedding their beautiful brilliancy upon us again with apparently increased glory , while the freshness and invigorating feel of the air was inexpressibly delightful . We did not court danger by hugging too closely any of the ugly reefs and banks that abound in this notably difficult strait , but gave them all a respectfully wide berth . It was a feature of our navigation that , unless we had occasion to go near any island or reef for fishing or landing purposes , we always kept a safe margin of distance away , which probably accounts for our continued immunity from accident while in tortuous waters . Our anchors and cables were , however , always kept ready for use now , in case of an unsuspected current or sudden storm ; but beyond that precaution , I could see little or no difference in the manner of our primitive navigation .