About three o'clock
On the morning of the destruction of Fort Pilcher , the Syndicate 's vessels moved toward the port , and the steel net was taken up by the two crabs , and moved nearer the mouth of the harbour , at a point from which the fort , now in process of evacuation , was in full view . When this had been done , Repeller No. 2 took up her position at a moderate distance behind the net , and the other vessels stationed themselves near by . The protection of the net was considered necessary , for although there could be no reasonable doubt that all the torpedoes in the harbour and river had been exploded , others might be sent out against the Syndicate 's vessels ; and a torpedo under a crab or a repeller was the enemy most feared by the Syndicate . About three o'clock the signals between the repellers became very frequent , and soon afterwards a truce-boat went out from Repeller No. 1 . This was rowed with great rapidity , but it was obliged to go much farther up the harbour than on previous occasions , in order to deliver its message to an officer of the garrison . This was to the effect that the evacuation of the fort had been observed from the Syndicate 's vessels , and although it had been apparently complete , one of the scientific corps , with a powerful glass , had discovered a man in one of the outer redoubts , whose presence there was probably unknown to the officers of the garrison . It was , therefore , earnestly urged that this man be instantly removed ; and in order that this might be done , the discharge of the motor-bomb would be postponed half an hour .