about
midday
In this frightful situation we lay until the day broke so as to show us more fully the horrors which surrounded us . The brig was a mere log , rolling about at the mercy of every wave ; the gale was upon the increase , if any thing , blowing indeed a complete hurricane , and there appeared to us no earthly prospect of deliverance . For several hours we held on in silence , expecting every moment that our lashings would either give way , that the remains of the windlass would go by the board , or that some of the huge seas , which roared in every direction around us and above us , would drive the hulk so far beneath the water that we should be drowned before it could regain the surface . By the mercy of God , however , we were preserved from these imminent dangers , and about midday were cheered by the light of the blessed sun . Shortly afterward we could perceive a sensible diminution in the force of the wind , when , now for the first time since the latter part of the evening before , Augustus spoke , asking Peters , who lay closest to him , if he thought there was any possibility of our being saved . As no reply was at first made to this question , we all concluded that the hybrid had been drowned where he lay ; but presently , to our great joy , he spoke , although very feebly , saying that he was in great pain , being so cut by the tightness of his lashings across the stomach , that he must either find means of loosening them or perish , as it was impossible that he could endure his misery much longer . This occasioned us great distress , as it was altogether useless to think of aiding him in any manner while the sea continued washing over us as it did .