three o'clock
It was a reef with a good deal of water over most of it ; so much , indeed , that the sea did not break unless in heavy gales , but not enough to carry a ship like the Rancocus over , except in one , and that a very contracted pass , of less than a hundred feet in width . This channel it would be indispensably necessary to buoy , since a variation from the true course of only a few fathoms would infallibly produce the loss of the ship . All the rest of the distance was easily enough made by a vessel standing down , by simply taking care not to run into visible breakers . Mark and Bob did not get back to the Rancocus until near three o'clock . They found everything as they had left it , and the pigs , poultry and goat , glad enough to see them , and beginning to want their victuals and drink . The two first are to be found on board of every ship , but the last is not quite so usual . Captain Crutchely had brought one along to supply milk for his tea , a beverage that , oddly enough , stood second only to grog in his favour .