five o'clock in the
afternoon
The American yacht had disappeared , and after the blow it had received from the `` Alaska '' they almost doubted if it would be able to resist the tornado . Their own situation was so perilous that they could only think of their own safety , for every moment it grew worse . There is nothing more frightful than those arctic tempests , in which all the primitive forces of nature seem to be awakened in order to give the navigator a specimen of the cataclysms of the glacial period . The darkness was profound although it was only five o'clock in the afternoon . The engine had stopped , and they were unable to light their electric light . To the raging of the storm was added the roars of thunder and the tumult made by the floating blocks of ice dashing against each other . The ice-banks were continually breaking with a noise like the roar of a cannon .