about noon
and then the pilot made in for the land , and the ship 's yards were squared . The royals were soon afterwards sent aloft , the wind having sprung up again steadily , still from the nor ' - east , as the tide began to make , and we ran now before it , almost sailing free , so as to pass to the southwards of Lundy Island and weather Hartland Point , on our way out into the open sea . Captain Billings , seeing the wind so favourable , instead of hugging the land , determined to make all the westing he could at this the very outset of our voyage , in order to avoid the cross currents hanging about the chops of the Channel , and off the Scilly Isles -- which frequently , when aided by the contrary winds they engender , drive a ship on to the French coast , and into the Bay of Biscay , thus entailing a lot of beating up to the northwards again to gain a proper westerly course . Under these circumstances , therefore , my skipper , who I could see thus early `` had his head , '' as they say , `` screwed on straight , '' taking his point of departure from Lundy , and so bidding farewell to the land which he did n't intend approaching again for the next few weeks if he could help it , kept a straight course by the compass due west for twenty-four hours , by the end of which time , and this was about noon on our second day out , we had cleared the Scilly Islands , passing some twenty leagues to the northward of the Bishop 's Rock . We were now well in with the Atlantic Ocean , and pursued the same direction , right before the wind , until we reached the meridian of 12 degrees 15 minutes West , when we hauled round more to the southwards , shaping a course to take us well to the westward of Madeira . Before this , however -- that is , on our first day out , shortly after we had cleared Lundy Island , and when Sam and the pilot and his cutter were out of sight , and the ship clear of `` strangers '' -- Captain Billings called a muster of all hands aft , when he divided the crew into two watches , officered respectively by the first and second mates . The `` complement , '' as they say in the Royal Navy , of the _ Esmeralda _ , I may as well state here , consisted of the skipper , Captain Billings ; the two mates , one occupying the proud position of `` chief of the staff , '' and the other being merely an executive officer of little superior grade to one of the foremast hands ; a boatswain , carpenter , sail-maker , cook , steward , and eighteen regular crew -- the vessel , on account of her being barque-rigged , not requiring such a number of men in proportion to her tonnage as would have been necessary if she had been fitted as a ship , with yards and squaresails on the mizen-mast .