nearly six o’clock
The sailor , observing the heavy surf on the shore , shook his head . The engineer had disappeared to the north of the shore , and nearly half a mile from the place where the castaways had landed . The nearest point of the beach he could reach was thus fully that distance off . It was then nearly six o'clock . A thick fog made the night very dark . The castaways proceeded toward the north of the land on which chance had thrown them , an unknown region , the geographical situation of which they could not even guess . They were walking upon a sandy soil , mingled with stones , which appeared destitute of any sort of vegetation .