four o'clock
Even the bottom of the ocean was coming up to meet the Doraine . Its depth appreciably lessened with each successive measurement . From fifty fathoms it had decreased to ten since the first line was dropped . At four o'clock , Captain Trigger ordered a boat lowered and manned by a picked crew in charge of the Second Engineer . The Doraine was about five miles off shore at the time , and was drifting with a noticeably increased speed directly toward the rock-bound coast . He had hoped she would go aground in the shallow waters off the sandy beach , but there was now no chance that such a piece of good fortune was in store for her . She was going straight for the huge black rocks .