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Unfortunately , as an omen , it came down , and showed itself on the top-gallant yard-arm . Being so far out from the deck , I could look at the ship , as at a separate vessel ; - and there rose up from the water , supported only by the small black hull , a pyramid of canvas , spreading out far beyond the hull , and towering up almost , as it seemed in the indistinct night air , to the clouds . Having a fine wind , we were soon up with and passed the latitude of the Cape , and having stood far enough to the southward to give it a wide berth , we began to stand to the eastward , with a good prospect of being round and steering to the northward on the other side , in a very few days . Sandwich Islanders ; but it was far from being the usual noisy , laughing time . The only way now was to let everything stand , and if the gale went down , well and good ; if not , something must go - the weakest stick or rope first - and then we could get it in . Unfortunately , our books were where we could not get at them , and we were turning about for something to do , when one man recollected a book he had left in the galley . Unfortunately , there was no moon , but it was a clear night , and we could plainly mark the long , regular heaving of the stupendous mass , as its edges moved slowly against the stars . Wherever smoke was seen coming out , we calked and pasted , and , so far as we could , made the ship smoke tight . In addition to this , she had been steeved so thoroughly , and was so bound by the compression of her cargo , forced into her by so powerful machinery , that she was like a man in a straight-jacket , and would be but a dull sailer , until she had worked herself loose . As far as the eye could reach , the sea in every direction was of a deep blue color , the waves running high and fresh , and sparkling in the light , and in the midst lay this immense mountain-island , its cavities and valleys thrown into deep shade , and its points and pinnacles glittering in the sun . It is very generally believed , and is always highly commended , as a fair instance of retaliatory justice .