twenty-seven minutes past three P.M.
In the meantime the little canoe cut her way , as if she were chasing a smuggler ; and had it not been for a shark or two who , in anticipation of their services being required , never left her side for a second , Popanilla really might have made some ingenious observations on the nature of tides . He was rather surprised , certainly , as he watched his frail bark cresting the waves ; but he soon supposed that this was all in the natural course of things ; and he now ascribed his previous fright , not to the peril of his situation , but to his inexperience of it . Although his apprehension of being drowned was now removed , yet when he gazed on the boundless vacancy before him , and also observed that his provisions rapidly decreased , he began to fear that he was destined for a still more horrible fate , and that , after having eaten his own slices , he must submit to be starved . In this state of despondency , with infinite delight and exultation Le clearly observed , on the second clay , at twenty-seven minutes past three P.M. , though at a considerable distance , a mountain and an island . His joy and his pride were equal , and excessive : he called the first Alligator Mountain , in gratitude to the pears ; and christened the second after his mistress , that unlucky mistress ! The swift canoe soon reached the discoveries , and the happy discoverer further found , to his mortification , that the mountain was a mist and the island a sea-weed . Popanilla now grew sulky , and threw himself down in the bottom of his boat .