midnight
But all hands seemed to be very decent fellows in their own rough way , now that they had had time to recover from their previous day 's debauch , and manifested a distinct disposition to be friendly toward the young greenhorn whom they found in their midst , especially as they had already had an opportunity to see that the greenhorn 's greenness was not of such a character as to entail upon them very much extra work . The afternoon was well advanced when at length the passengers , seventeen in number , came off to the ship ; and the moment that they and their baggage were embarked the anchor was hove up , the tug once more came alongside and took the towrope , and the _ Concordia _ proceeded upon her voyage , the hope being freely expressed , both fore and aft , that there would be no more anchoring until the ship should have arrived under the shadow , so to speak , of Natal Bluff . As soon as the ship was fairly under way , and the anchor at the cathead , the chief and second mates picked the watches , and Dick , to his satisfaction , found himself picked by Mr Sutcliffe as a member of that officer 's watch . As the ship drew down toward the lower reaches of the river she met a slight breeze breathing out from the north-east , to which she spread , first , her fore-and-aft canvas , and , later on , her square sails , so that by the time of her arrival off Deal , near midnight , she was practically independent of the tug , which at that point cast her off . Here also the pilot left her , taking with him a goodly packet of letters from the passengers to their friends ashore ; and the _ Concordia _ , spreading her studding-sails , swept on into the broadening waters of the English Channel . With the other letters went one from Dick to his mother and another to Dr Humphreys , written during his watch below . The fair wind which the _ Concordia _ fell in with at the mouth of the Thames lasted long enough to carry the ship , not only clear of the Channel , but also well to the westward of Ushant , Captain Roberts having availed himself to the utmost of the opportunity to make as much westing as possible , as his experience had taught him that at that season of the year the prevailing winds which he might expect to meet with to the northward of Madeira would most probably be strong from the south - westward .