about a quarter to eleven
Get the yard tackles up : all ready , Mr -- ? '' `` Aye , aye , sir , '' replied the first lieutenant . `` Pipe the boat 's crew away , and let them get their guns and ammunition on the gangway . '' It was about a quarter to eleven when we hove to , the breeze still continuing variable and light , and the French line-of-battle ship did not come up so fast as before . We sounded after we hove to , and found that we were in five and a half fathoms water . At twelve o'clock , in consequence of our having hove to , the relative positions of the vessels were as follows : -- The two merchant vessels which had been about four miles astern of us were now alongside of us ; the third was about three miles astern of us ; and the Frenchman was about the same distance astern of her ; so that our frigate was about six miles from the French line-of-battle ship . Captain Delmar had given orders to pipe to dinner at seven bells -LRB- half-past eleven o'clock -RRB- ; that in case the boats were required , the men might have dined before the were sent away .