six
o'clock in the morning
Beyond the alternative they could not trace it . But the whole table , they admitted , had been to blame , and pretty damnably . To be sure they were drunk , every man Jack of them , the Collector included . The Collector , indolent by nature but capable of long stretches of work at a pinch , had been at his desk since six o'clock in the morning . The news brought by the _ Fish-hawk _ had reached him at five ; and after bathing , dressing , and drinking his chocolate , he had started to write , and had been writing letters all day . The most of these were lengthy , addressed to England , to his relatives , his London lawyers , the steward at Carwithiel ... . The Surveyor and Deputy-Collector could deal -- as they usually did -- with the official correspondence of the Custom House ; his own Secretary had the light task of penning a score of invitations to dinner ; but these letters of condolence and private business must be written by his own hand , as also a note to Governor Shirley formally announcing his accession and new title .