noon
Our first glimpse of the natives . The value of vaudeville . There is nothing better , after a hurricane , than six hours ' sleep . It was high noon when we were awakened by William Henry Thomas and the odor of coffee , which drew us to the quarter-deck . There , for the first time , we were able to make an accurate survey of our surroundings and realize the magnitude and importance of what had befallen us . While we slept Captain Triplett had warped the denuded Kawa through a labyrinth of coral and we now lay peacefully at anchor with the island lying close in-board . Its appearance , to put it mildly , was astonishing .