By the way, the very reefs that made those seas so dangerous served completely to protect my little island in stormy weather.

The fury of the billows lost itself upon them, so that even the surf very rarely reached me.

I was usually astir about sunrise.

I knew that the sun rose about 6 A.M.in those tropical seas and set at 6 P.M.; there was very little variation all the year round.

A heavy dew descended at night, which made the air delightfully cool; but in the day it was so frightfully hot that I could not bear the weight of ordinary clothes upon my person, so I took to wearing a silk shawl instead, hung loosely round my waist.
Another reason why I abandoned clothes was because I found that when a rent appeared the sun blazed down through it and raised a painful blister.