about midnight
We had to encroach on the jolly-boat 's stores , the provisions being divided between the two boats although our craft , being the larger of the two , had of course carried the major portion . This could , however , only now be looked upon as lost ; for the seawater must have spoilt everything eatable . However , as the crew had gone through a good deal of hardship , the skipper did not attempt to ration them down to any smaller allowance on this our first evening on Herschel Island ; and so , when a fire was built up , and some hot coffee brewed by Jorrocks , who usurped Pat Doolan 's functions on this occasion , the Irishman being still too weak from his efforts to rescue poor Harmer to be of much use yet , we all had a hearty meal , feeling much the better thereby . After this , the skipper told the men to lie down round the fire , which we found very grateful when the sun had set , besides its enabling us to dry our wet clothes ; but the crew were warned that they would have to rouse up about midnight , when Captain Billings expected the tide would have gone down sufficiently to enable us to get the long-boat out of danger , and turn her over on the beach beyond high-water mark . I confess that I went off to sleep at once ; and neither the shaking of Jorrocks , nor the noise the men made in righting the long-boat , served to wake me up till it was broad daylight next morning , when I opened my eyes to find the sun shining down on a calm sea that hardly made a ripple on the beach , with the long-boat upright in her proper position , alongside the jolly-boat , and high and dry ashore . There was a delicious smell of something cooking in one of Pat Doolan 's galley pots , hung gipsy fashion over a roaring fire , and superintended by the Irishman , now himself again . A large tent had also been rigged up by the aid of the boat sails and tarpaulins , making the place have the appearance of a cosy encampment , and offering a pleasant change to the desolate look it had worn the previous afternoon -- when the sea was roaring in , hurling a deluge of foam on the beach , and we , wet and forlorn , were endeavouring to save the flotsam and jetsam of the long - boat 's cargo .