two o'clock
Our eyes were blinded , our ears deafened , with the roar and glare . The clouds above , the ocean beneath , seemed verily to have taken fire , and several times I saw forked lightnings dart upward from the crest of the waves , and mingle with those that radiated from the fiery vault above . A strong odor of sulphur pervaded the air , but though thunderbolts fell thick around us , not one touched our raft . By two o'clock the storm had reached its height . The hurricane had increased , and the heavy waves , heated to a strange heat by the general temperature , dashed over us until we were drenched to the skin . Curtis , Dowlas , the boatswain , and the sailors did what they could to strengthen the raft with additional ropes . M. Letourneur placed himself in front of Andre , to shelter him from the waves .