about noon
The advice was approved of and acted upon ; the boats were shoved off and the oars resumed . So tired and exhausted were the men , that their oars dipped mechanically into the water , for there was no strength left to be applied ; it was not until the next morning at daylight , that they had arrived opposite False Bay , and they had still many miles to pull . The wind in their favour had done almost all -- the men could do little or nothing . Encouraged , however , by the sight of land which they knew , they rallied ; and about noon they pulled , exhausted , to the beach at the bottom of Table Bay , near to which were the houses , and the fort protecting the settlers , who had for some few years resided there . They landed close to where a broad rivulet at that season -LRB- but a torrent in the winter -RRB- poured its stream into the bay . At the sight of fresh water , some of the men dropped their oars , threw themselves into the sea when out of their depth -- others when the water was above their waists -- yet they did not arrive so soon as those who waited till the boat struck the beach and jumped out upon dry land . And then they threw themselves into the rivulet , which coursed over the shingle , about five or six inches in depth allowing the refreshing stream to pour into their mouths till they could receive no more , immersing their hot hands , and rolling in it with delight .