midday
He was the only passenger on board , a friend of the firm , and he had elected to make the voyage for his health . But seven weeks of Cape Horn had not bettered his health . He gasped and panted in his bunk through the long , heaving nights ; and when on deck he was so bundled up for warmth that he resembled a peripatetic old-clothes shop . At midday , eating at the cabin table in a gloom so deep that the swinging sea-lamps burned always , he looked as blue-gray as the sickest , saddest man for ` ard . Nor did gazing across the table at Captain Dan Cullen have any cheering effect upon him . Captain Cullen chewed and scowled and kept silent . The scowls were for God , and with every chew he reiterated the sole thought of his existence , which was _ make westing .