nine o'clock in the morning
She `` carried on '' consistently , day and night , as though we were sailing in a race , and no sooner were we past Ushant , and the breeze showed signs of freshening , than she ordered preventer backstays rigged fore and aft , and hung on to her canvas until our lee rail was awash and the lee main-deck flooded to such an extent from the topgallant forecastle to the poop that its passage became an impossibility except by swimming . We swept across the Bay like smoke driven by a strong breeze , overhauling and passing everything that was going our way , excepting a big Cape liner ; and we actually held our own with her for some hours , until the breeze eased up sufficiently to allow the steamer to draw gradually away from us . We must have presented a most beautiful picture to the people aboard that boat as we swept along for a time neck and neck with her , our snow-white cotton canvas gleaming in the brilliant sunlight or flecked with sweeping blue shadows as the yacht rushed through and over the foaming surges with the water all aboil about her and every perfectly cut sail , to her three royals , accurately set and drawing like a team of cart horses . The fresh easterly breeze which had swept us down channel in such splendid style lasted long enough to carry us to the mouth of the Tagus shortly after nine o'clock in the morning of our fifth day out from London ; and by noon of that day we were riding at anchor off the city of Lisbon . Here we remained two days , our next destination being the island of Madeira . From Madeira we went on to Teneriffe , and from Teneriffe to Gibraltar ; after which we gradually worked our way up the Mediterranean , calling in at a number of interesting places on the way . We were at Ajaccio on Christmas Day ; and it was characteristic of our skipper that she so arranged matters as to spend the day aboard with us , giving the crew a rare good time and inviting the whole of her officers to dine with her in the evening .