midnight
From thence we began to haul somewhat off from the land , the wind drawing further aft and freshening somewhat as we did so ; so that by sunset the lively little craft had brought Lucrecia Point fairly on her larboard beam . As the sun went down the wind manifested a disposition to drop ; and for a couple of hours we crept along at a speed of scarcely five knots ; but it breezed up again just after the first watch came on deck ; and by two bells we were smoking through it faster than I had ever before seen the craft travel . In accordance with the plan which Courtenay and I had arranged , we took the tiller between us during the whole of the first watch , the two hands whose places we had taken coolly going below and turning in . When the watch was called at midnight we felt that we had done enough for our purpose , so we retired below and spent the remainder of the night in our bunks . At daybreak next morning we were awakened by a terrific hubbub overhead , and going on deck to ascertain what was the matter we found that the felucca , having been allowed to draw in too close with the land during the night , was becalmed off Guajaba Island , whilst a sail , some nine miles distant in the offing -- evidently a British man-of-war from the cut of her canvas , and apparently a frigate from her size -- was heading straight for us , close-hauled on the larboard tack , with a rattling breeze , as we could see by the way she was laying over to it and the rapidity with which her sails rose above the horizon . There could be no doubt that they had seen us with the first approach of daylight and were determined to give us an overhaul , hence the confusion which had aroused us from our peaceful slumbers . It was laughable to witness the agonised dismay with which the Spaniards viewed the approach of this craft , and to listen to the prayers , vows , and maledictions which issued indiscriminately from their lips as she swept relentlessly down toward us .