midday
But I did not . My thoughts ran wholly on the actual facts , and , as I have said , faintly at times , but to my salvation , on Carette and home . While the sun shone , and the masses of soft white cloud floated slowly against the blue , hope still held me , if precariously at times . At midday , indeed , the fierce bite of his rays on my bare back -- for we had stripped for the fight and I had on only my breeches and belt -- combined with the salting of the previous night and the dazzle of the dancing waves added greatly to my discomfort . I felt like an insect under a burning glass , and suffered much until I had the sense to slice a piece off my sail with my knife and pull it over my raw shoulder bones . But when night fell again , the chill waste of waters washed in on my soul and left me desolate and hopeless , and I hardly hoped to see the dawn . I remember little of the night , except that it was full of long-drawn agony and seemed as if it would never end .