un could not have lent a ray
of his light to cheer my dungeon. It chanced, however, that I _did_
know the night from the day. No doubt you will wonder how I came by
this knowledge--since I had kept no time for the first hundred hours
after getting aboard, and there was then, in the complete darkness that
surrounded me, no means of distinguishing the one from the other. I had
a means of telling, however, and it was this: During all my life I had
been trained to the habit of going to bed at a particular hour--ten
o'clock at night--and also of rising at six exactly. This was a rule in
my father's house, as well as that of my uncle--in the latter, indeed, I
was compelled to observe it with a stern exactitude. The consequence of
this habit was, that whenever the hour of ten drew nigh, I naturally
felt the inclination for sleep; and the habit had grown so fixed, that,
notwithstanding the change of circumstances, it still continued. This I
was not slow to observe. I felt the desire to sleep come upon me at
regular periods, and I concluded, therefore, that whenever I had this
feeling upon me it was about ten o'clock of the night. I had
discovered, too, by registering the time with my watch, that I usually
slept about eight hours, and then I felt no desire to remain asleep any
longer. When I awoke it would be six in the morning; and, in this
belief, I regulated my watch to that hour. So convinced was I of these
facts, that I felt confident I could have counted the days without the
watch; but fearing that some change might occur in my habitual hours of
rest, in consequence of the altered circumstances in which I was placed,
I resolved always to keep the time-piece going. Ever before lying down
to sleep, I took the precaution to wind it up to the full length of its
chain, and on awaking I repeated the operation, so that there might be
no danger of even a moment's stoppage.

Though satisfied that I could tell night from day, I have said that it
mattered little, or not at all. It was of importance, however, that I
should know when each twenty-four hours had ended, for it was only by
that means I could have any knowledge of the progress of the voyage. I
took especial care to count the hours; and whenever I perceived that the
hour-hand had completed two circuits around the dial, I cut a fresh
notch in a piece of stick, set aside for this especial purpose. I need
not say that my registry was kept with the greatest care. T