noon
On the following day , at six bells in the forenoon watch -LRB- 11 a.m. -RRB- , the look-out aloft reported a something which he took to be floating wreckage , about three points on the port bow ; and Mr Smellie , our second lieutenant , at once went aloft to the foretopmast crosstrees to have a look at it through his telescope . A single glance sufficed to acquaint him with the fact that the object , which was about six miles distant , was a raft with people upon it , who were making such signals as it was in their power to make with the object of attracting our attention . Upon the receipt of this news on deck Captain Vernon at once ordered the ship 's course to be altered to the direction of the raft , a gun being fired and the ensign run up to the gaff-end at the same time . It was a trifle past noon when the _ Daphne _ rounded-to about a hundred yards to windward of the raft , and sent away a boat to pick up those upon it . It was a wretched make-shift structure , composed of a spar or two , some half-burned hen-coops , and a few pieces of charred bulwark - planking ; and was so small that there was scarcely room on it for the fourteen persons it sustained . It was a most fortunate circumstance for them that the weather happened to be fine at the time ; for had there been any great amount of sea running , the crazy concern could not have been kept together for half an hour . We concluded from the appearance of the affair that the castaways had been burned out of their ship ; and so they had , but not in the manner we supposed .