noon
No sail was in sight ; nothing that had life or motion ; not even fish or fowl broke the monotony of that vast surface of sleeping water . There were no signs of the gig : she must have rowed off in some different direction ; no signs either of the wreck , the breeze had carried us far from it ; but even had we remained near , there might have been seen no traces of it . All had long since gone to the bottom of the sea . The sun rose higher and higher , and at noon stood right over our heads . We had no protection from his beams -- they were almost hot enough to blister us . The calm continued -- there was not enough motion in the air to have wafted a feather , and the raft lay as still as if it had been aground . It only moved , when those who were on it passed from place to place .