three o’clock in the afternoon on July 6
The crew sided with him unanimously . Indeed , were we likely to encounter the narwhale in such a cramped strait ? Many of our sailors swore that the monster could n't negotiate this passageway simply because `` he 's too big for it ! '' Near three o'clock in the afternoon on July 6 , fifteen miles south of shore , the Abraham Lincoln doubled that solitary islet at the tip of the South American continent , that stray rock Dutch seamen had named Cape Horn after their hometown of Hoorn . Our course was set for the northwest , and the next day our frigate 's propeller finally churned the waters of the Pacific . `` Open your eyes ! Open your eyes ! ''