about eight in the
morning
Gideon Spilett repeated , for the twentieth time , that Cyrus Harding would not have been troubled for so small a difficulty . And , in the meantime , he stretched himself in one of the passages on his bed of sand . Herbert , Neb , and Pencroft did the same , while Top slept at his master 's feet . Next day , the 28th of March , when the engineer awoke , about eight in the morning , he saw his companions around him watching his sleep , and , as on the day before , his first words were : -- `` Island or continent ? '' This was his uppermost thought . `` Well ! '' replied Pencroft , `` we do n't know anything about it , captain ! ''