midnight
The mate of course obeyed , and the evening shut in beautifully and placid , with all the glory of a mild night , in a latitude as low as that they were in . They who have never seen the ocean under such circumstances , know little of its charms in its moments of rest . The term of sleeping is well applied to its impressive stillness , for the long sluggish swells on which the ship rose and fell , hardly disturbed its surface . The moon did not rise until midnight , and Eve , accompanied by Mademoiselle Viefville and most of her male companions , walked the deck by the bright starlight , until fatigued with pacing their narrow bounds . The song and the laugh rose frequently from the forecastle , where the crew were occupied with their Saturday night ; and occasionally a rude sentiment in the way of a toast was heard . But weariness soon got the better of merriment forward , and the hard-worked mariners , who had the watch below , soon went down to their berths , leaving those whose duty it was to remain to doze away the long hours in such places as they could find on deck . `` A white squall , '' said Captain Truck , looking up at the uncouth sails that hardly impelled the vessel a mile in the hour through the water , `` would soon furl all our canvas for us , and we are in the very place for such an interlude . ''