10 a.m
He would not abandon the place without having at least found the tomb of his friends . But Captain Blomsberry could not stay on obstinately , and notwithstanding the opposition of the worthy secretary , he was obliged to give orders to set sail . On the 29th of December , at 9 a.m. , the Susquehanna , heading north-east , began to return to the bay of San Francisco . It was 10 a.m. . The corvette was leaving slowly and as if with regret the scene of the catastrophe , when the sailor at the masthead , who was on the look-out , called out all at once -- `` A buoy on the lee bow ! '' The officers looked in the direction indicated . They saw through their telescopes the object signalled , which did look like one of those buoys used for marking the openings of bays or rivers ; but , unlike them , a flag floating in the wind surmounted a cone which emerged five or six feet .