noon
I will pass the things out to you . '' Half an hour later , the _ Flying Fish _ passed out to sea through the usual gap in the reef , by which time Barker had already got his tent rigged , a fire lighted , and was cooking his first meal . There could be no manner of doubt that , whatever else he might be , the man was a thoroughly sound philosopher . At noon that day , Mildmay ascertained his exact latitude ; and having thus , in conjunction with his usual morning observations for the determination of the longitude , fixed the exact position of the ship on the chart , a course was laid off for the pearl-island . The ship , going at full speed , rose into the calm belt , and that same afternoon settled down again in her former berth in the pearl-island lagoon . On the following morning the four men went ashore and resumed their disagreeable task of separating the pearls from the putrid mass of decomposed matter in which they were imbedded ; and this time they persevered until they had dealt with all the oysters that they had fished up . The result was so enormously rich a harvest of magnificent pearls that everybody was more than satisfied , and there was a general consensus of opinion that , under these circumstances , it would be mere waste of time to stay any longer at the island .