About nine p.m.
This pleasant and satisfactory state of affairs lasted for five days , and then came a change . On the afternoon of the fifth day light fleecy vapours began to gather in the sky , growing thicker as the afternoon waned , until by sunset the entire canopy of heaven was veiled by huge masses of dense slate-coloured cloud , which swept heavily across the firmament from the eastward . The aneroid which Captain Staunton had ordered to be put oh board the launch indicated a considerable decrease of atmospheric pressure , which , coupled with the appearance of the sky , led the skipper to believe that bad weather was at hand ; accordingly , when the other boats closed in upon the launch at sundown , word was passed along the line to keep a sharp look-out and to be prepared for any change which might occur . About nine p.m. the wind died almost completely away ; and shortly afterwards a few heavy drops of rain fell , speedily followed by a drenching shower . This killed the remaining light air of wind , and the boats lay idly upon the water , their saturated canvas flapping heavily against the masts . But not for long ; the sails were speedily lowered down and spread across from gunwale to gunwale to catch the precious moisture , and so heavy was the downpour that in the quarter of an hour during which the shower lasted the voyagers were enabled to almost entirely refill their breakers , the contents of which had by this time very materially diminished . The rain ceased suddenly , and a few minutes afterwards a puff of wind , hot as the breath of a furnace , swept over the boats from the north - east , and passed away , leaving a breathless calm as before .