nine
o'clock in the evening
You can not go on shore , sir . '' These last words he uttered in a very peremptory manner , and , quitting the deck , left me to my own reflections and my own resources . Intercourse by letter between Eugenia and myself was perfectly easy ; but that was not all I wanted . I had promised to meet her at nine o'clock in the evening . It was now sunset ; the boats were all hoisted up ; no shore boat was near , and there was no mode of conveyance but _ à la nage _ , which Mr Talbot himself had suggested only as proving its utter impracticability ; but he did not know me half so well at the time as he did afterwards . The ship lay two miles from the shore , the wind was from the south-west , and the tide moving to the eastward ; so that , with wind and tide both in my favour , I calculated on fetching South Sea Castle . After dark I took my station in the fore-channels .