five o’clock in the afternoon
He began by removing from each trunk an inch-thick strip of bark that covered a network of long , hopelessly tangled fibers that were puttied with a sort of gummy flour . This flour was the starch-like sago , an edible substance chiefly consumed by the Melanesian peoples . For the time being , Ned Land was content to chop these trunks into pieces , as if he were making firewood ; later he would extract the flour by sifting it through cloth to separate it from its fibrous ligaments , let it dry out in the sun , and leave it to harden inside molds . Finally , at five o'clock in the afternoon , laden with all our treasures , we left the island beach and half an hour later pulled alongside the Nautilus . Nobody appeared on our arrival . The enormous sheet-iron cylinder seemed deserted . Our provisions loaded on board , I went below to my stateroom .