eight o'clock
asked Uncle Prudent . It was six o'clock precisely when the Sierra Nevada was crossed by the same pass as that taken by the railway . Only a hundred and eighty miles then separated them from San Francisco , the Californian capital . At the speed the `` Albatross '' was going she would be over the dome by eight o'clock . At this moment Robur appeared on deck . The colleagues walked up to him . `` Engineer Robur , '' said Uncle Prudent , `` we are now on the very confines of America !