midnight
And it appeared to me that this was a most sensible decision to arrive at , since , taking into account the long distance to be traversed , the determination to regulate the progress of the entire squadron by that of the slowest boat must necessarily entail a very serious lengthening of the period of exposure and privation for those in the faster boats . Sail was accordingly made by the long-boat and ourselves ; and when darkness closed down upon the scene , the gig was leading by about half a mile , the long-boat coming next , and the remainder stringing out astern , at distances varying from three-quarters of a mile to twice as far . It must not be supposed that , on this first day in the boats , the novelty of our situation caused us to feel indifferent to the possibility of a sail heaving in sight ; on the contrary , one man in each boat was told off for the especial purpose of keeping a look-out ; and I , for one , felt it to be a serious misfortune that up to nightfall nothing had been sighted ; for , to tell the whole truth , I regarded the possibility of our reaching either Corvo or the Canaries as mighty problematical , trusting for our eventual rescue very much more to the chance of our falling in with a ship and being picked up . About eight bells of the second dog-watch the wind , which had been gradually freshening all day , freshened still more , piping up occasionally in so squally a fashion that I deemed it prudent to again haul down a reef ; and by midnight it had become necessary to take in a second reef , the sky having clouded over , with a thick and rather dirty look to windward , while the wind came along in such heavy puffs that , staunch boat as was the gig , we had our work cut out at times to keep her lee gunwale above water . Moreover , a short , steep , choppy sea had been raised that proved very trying to us , the boat driving her sharp stem viciously into it , and throwing frequent heavy showers of spray over herself , that not only drenched us all to the skin , but also necessitated the continuous use of the baler . Fortunately , we were not very greatly crowded ; so that , despite the weight of our party and that of our provisions and water , the boat was fairly buoyant , and we shipped nothing heavier than spray ; but my heart ached as I thought of the poor women and children cooped up in the long-boat , and pictured to myself their too probable piteous condition of cold and wet and misery . As the night wore on , the weather grew steadily worse ; and morning at length dawned upon us , hove-to under close-reefed canvas , with a strong gale blowing , and a high , steep , and dangerous sea running .