The Count of Monte Cristo

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then gloom gradually covered the summit as it had covered the base, and
the island now only appeared to be a gray mountain that grew continually
darker; half an hour after, the night was quite dark.

Fortunately, the mariners were used to these latitudes, and knew every
rock in the Tuscan Archipelago; for in the midst of this obscurity Franz
was not without uneasiness--Corsica had long since disappeared, and
Monte Cristo itself was invisible; but the sailors seemed, like the
lynx, to see in the dark, and the pilot who steered did not evince the
slightest hesitation. An hour had passed since the sun had set, when
Franz fancied he saw, at a quarter of a mile to the left, a dark mass,
but he could not precisely make out what it was, and fearing to excite
the mirth of the sailors by mistaking a floating cloud for land, he
remained silent; suddenly a great light appeared on the strand; land
might resemble a cloud, but the fire was not a meteor. "What is this
light?" asked he.