eleven o'clock
When they had done good justice to it , and rested a little while , they re-embarked to continue their excursion . A short distance from El Moral was the mouth of the harbor from which they put out to sea , leaving on the starboard quarter the lighthouse tower set on a bluff . The sailors dropped their oars and hoisted the sails to take advantage of the fresh north-east wind which forced them ahead . It was eleven o'clock in the forenoon . The cloud veil had entirely vanished down the horizon , leaving in view a beautiful , diaphanous blue sky wherein the sun swam haughty and brilliant as never before . The sea stretched out before our voyagers ' eyes like one enormous , measureless blue plain , shutting in on all sides the celestial vault to collect its light and its harmony . Above this azure plain the luminous disk of the sun made a wide path of shining silver peopled with tremulous , sparkling gleams and extending in a direct line towards the east .