noon before
Formerly , how indignant he would have been had such an idea been suggested to him . They started at daybreak , hoping to get back at night , and to find Shafto and his companions had returned . The journey was a very fatiguing one . Though the captain knew the way tolerably well , it was noon before they reached the little bay where the dead seaman lay . The ensign seemed greatly struck when he saw it . `` Poor fellow , '' he said , contemplating the body . `` I thought my fate a very hard one , and yet how infinitely worse was that poor fellow 's , cast on this inhospitable shore , perhaps deserted by his companions , and left to die in all the agonies of starvation , without a human voice to soothe his last hours . ''