ten in the morning
He would not abandon the place without at least discovering the tomb of his friends . But Commander Blomsberry could no longer persist , and in spite of the exclamations of the worthy secretary , was obliged to give the order to sail . On the 29th of December , at nine A.M. , the Susquehanna , heading northeast , resumed her course to the bay of San Francisco . It was ten in the morning ; the corvette was under half-steam , as it was regretting to leave the spot where the catastrophe had taken place , when a sailor , perched on the main-top-gallant crosstrees , watching the sea , cried suddenly : `` A buoy on the lee bow ! '' The officers looked in the direction indicated , and by the help of their glasses saw that the object signalled had the appearance of one of those buoys which are used to mark the passages of bays or rivers . But , singularly to say , a flag floating on the wind surmounted its cone , which emerged five or six feet out of water . This buoy shone under the rays of the sun as if it had been made of plates of silver .