In what ways are the condemned man's perceptions of time and motion distorted as he is waiting to be hanged?

Farquhar's perceptions of time and motion begin to become
distorted while he is waiting to be hanged. He is looking down at Owl Creek, which is
described as "racing madly," but to him it seems "sluggish." He sees a piece of
driftwood which should be moving swiftly in the "swirling water," yet to him it is
drifting slowly.

       How slowly it appeared to move! What a
sluggish stream!

Then when he falls between the ties with the noose
around his neck, he has only a few seconds to live, and yet in his imagination he
experiences a whole series of events which could take hours. When he finally imaginies
that he has reached his home, which we are told is about thirty miles from the Owl Creek
bridge,

          All is as he left it, and all bright and beautiful
in

          the morning sunshine. He must have traveled
the

          entire
night.

His perception of time has been so
altered that his imagined escape and journey back to his home all take place within a
few seconds. It has often been said that a man's whole life can flash before his eyes in
a few moments when he is dying, and Ambrose Bierce's story makes this seem
credible.