about noon
But neither bribes nor threats could prevail with any native to accept the position as guide . The chief finally gave directions which were either wilfully incorrect or misunderstood . The Englishmen , on coming to a parting of the waters , took the wrong course , and found themselves by daylight right in the hills and twenty miles from the place where the captives lay . They came back and took the other channel , arriving at the halting-place about noon , to find the foe gone and themselves too weary to follow for some hours . Rob and the captain interviewed the chief , but the latter was too fearful of the Spaniards to offer any assistance . The English force in his eyes was too weak to gain any victory , and he would not be on the losing side . The adventurers pushed forward again in the evening , abandoned their boats , and took to the hills in the hope of cutting off the Spanish retreat .