Quotation from: Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard

Written by: Joseph Conrad

Nostromo interrupted his reflections upon the way men's qualities are
made use of, without any fundamental knowledge of their nature, by the
proposal they should slip the long oars out and sweep the lighter in
the direction of the Isabels. It wouldn't do for daylight to reveal
the treasure floating within a mile or so of the harbour entrance. The
denser the darkness generally, the smarter were the puffs of wind on
which he had reckoned to make his way; but tonight the gulf, under its
poncho of clouds, remained breathless, as if dead rather than asleep.