about three o'clock in the afternoon
It will be afternoon before I can get alongside her , but , please God , there will be no more open boating for me after to-day . '' That the craft in sight was indeed a brigantine became unmistakable as I stood on , slowly raising her canvas above the horizon ; and later on in the day I made two further discoveries , of a rather peculiar character , in connection with her . One was , that she was hove-to ; the other , that she was flying her ensign upside-down at the peak of her mainsail , the latter circumstance indicating that she was in distress or required assistance of some kind . It was about three o'clock in the afternoon when the life-boat crept up near enough to the brigantine to enable me to distinguish details ; and the first thing I observed was that a group of five or six men -- apparently forecastle hands -- were grouped aft , curiously inspecting the boat through a telescope as I approached . A little later , when I arrived within a few fathoms of her , I learned , from the inscription in white letters on her stern , that the craft was named the _ Yorkshire Lass _ , and that she hailed from Hull . As I drew up within hail I put my hands to my mouth , trumpet-wise , and shouted : '' _ Yorkshire Lass _ ahoy ! I am a castaway , and have been adrift in this boat ten days .