about midnight
The crew was sickly , the cargo was coming very slow ; I foresaw I would have lots of trouble with the charterers , and doubted whether they would advance me enough money for the ship 's expenses . Their attitude towards me was unfriendly . Altogether I was not getting on . I would discover at odd times -LRB- generally about midnight -RRB- that I was totally inexperienced , greatly ignorant of business , and hopelessly unfit for any sort of command ; and when the steward had to be taken to the hospital ill with choleraic symptoms I felt bereaved of the only decent person at the after end of the ship . He was fully expected to recover , but in the meantime had to be replaced by some sort of servant . And on the recommendation of a certain Schomberg , the proprietor of the smaller of the two hotels in the place , I engaged a Chinaman . Schomberg , a brawny , hairy Alsatian , and an awful gossip , assured me that it was all right .