nearly ten o'clock at night
This visit had evidently discomposed Carera 's nerves to a very considerable extent , for the boat was no sooner fairly away from the felucca 's side than our host presented himself in the cabin , to inform us that , the land-breeze having sprung up and the night being fine and clear , he proposed to go to sea at once instead of waiting until morning . We accordingly went on deck again instead of turning in , as had been our original intention ; and a few minutes later -- the boat being by this time close to the beach , and so thoroughly within the circle of the brilliant firelight that her occupants were not likely to observe our movements -- the canvas was loosed and all hands went cheerily to work to get the anchor . This , the water being shallow , was not a long job , and a quarter of an hour later we were stealing noiselessly away down the lagoon ; the land-breeze , which was rustling cheerily among the tree - tops , just reaching us in a languid zephyr , mingled now and again with fitful puffs , which sent us along at a speed of about three knots . It was now nearly ten o'clock at night ; the moon rode high in the heavens , which were flecked here and there by small patches of fleecy scurrying cloud ; the fog had drifted away , leaving the atmosphere delightfully pure and clear , so that , narrow as was the channel down which we were winding our way , we had no difficulty in steering clear of all obstruction . As we crept down the lagoon we gradually got a truer breeze and more of it , so that by midnight we found ourselves just passing out of the Conconil lagoons and entering Santa Clara Bay . We now had a fine rattling breeze , which we expected would carry us across the bay and out through the Barcos Channel within the next hour , but , to Courtenay 's and my own inexpressible chagrin , Carera now informed us that , in order to escape the possibility of a second rencontre with the frigate we had fallen in with on our passage up , he had determined to go to the westward , returning round Cape San Antonio instead of by way of Cape Maysi . This was horribly disconcerting , for , to tell the truth , we had to a large extent been hoping for and depending upon such a rencontre as a means whereby we might effect our escape from the felucca .