about nine o'clock
The little boy , here alluded to , used frequently to get on the outside of the ship , and let himself down by a rope to paddle in the sea ; he had been several times detected by his papa , in playing those frolics ; and as often reproved for it , and warned of the danger , but to little purpose ; for he was one of those headstrong undutiful children -LRB- of whom I fear there are too many -RRB- who , as soon as they are out of their parents ' sight , forget the good advices and prudent cautions which have been given them , and pursue each idle fancy that enters their heads , without once considering either the folly or danger of it , till they are convinced , by fatal experience , that their parents are much more capable of judging what is proper for them than they are for themselves . -LSB- Illustration -RSB- After this accident , they proceeded on their voyage for several weeks , with very favourable weather , and had got so near their destined harbour , that they expected to have made it the next day , but in this they were unhappily disappointed ; for about ten o'clock in the evening they were overtaken by the most violent storm that the oldest sailor on board had ever remembered . The waves , which broke mountains high over the ship , washed several of the sailors overboard , and the rest were so dispirited and fatigued , that they were obliged to let the ship drive at the mercy of the wind and waves . The next morning , as soon as it was light , they perceived that the ship was carried towards the land with the greatest rapidity ; and , as they every moment expected , about nine o'clock she struck upon a rock ; the boat was immediately hoisted out , and every one on board crowded into her , except King Pippin , who imagining , that being overloaded , she could not possibly reach the shore , preferred remaining on the wreck . A very short time convinced him , that his suspicion was too well grounded ; for before the boat was out of sight , she overset , and every one on board perished . In this dangerous situation , expecting that the ship would go to pieces every moment , he continued till the afternoon , when the storm began to abate , and the sea became tolerably calm , and by the ebb of the tide the ship was much nearer the land than when she first struck . King Pippin now conceived hopes of gaining the shore , by means of a raft which he had constructed in the best manner he could ; and , furnishing himself with such things as he thought might be useful to him on shore , he let down his raft into the sea , and placing himself on it , began to paddle towards the land ; he had proceeded about a mile with great difficulty , when a sudden gust of wind instantly overset his whole cargo , and he was obliged to swim near a mile farther before he could reach the shore .