midnight
I was bound round to Kinchau Bay , the distance of which from the Elliot group , by sea , was about one hundred and thirteen sea miles ; I therefore reckoned on arriving at my destination about midnight , which would suit me admirably . The moon was in her third quarter , and was due to rise , that night , at a few minutes after one o'clock , which would also suit me excellently . For a wonder , the night was fine , with a light air out from about south-east ; there was no sea , and not much swell , and as the destroyer was running well within herself , we went along quite easily and comfortably , and I seized the opportunity to snatch a few hours ' sleep , leaving the navigation of the boat to my chief officer , who was quite equal to the task . The trip was uneventful , and at midnight Lieutenant Hiraoka aroused me with the intimation that we were standing into Kinchau Bay , and were already near enough to the land to enable the watch-fires on the hills to be made out ; I accordingly turned out and went on deck to take a look round . I had studied my maps so exhaustively that , dark though the night was , I was able without difficulty to identify the various heights in sight , of which Mount Sampson was by far the most conspicuous ; the general appearance of the land , indeed , was remarkably like what I had already mentally pictured it to be , and I seemed to be gazing on quite familiar ground . We were of course running without lights , and there was hardly a ghost of a chance of our being seen , but I eagerly searched the bay for craft , and was gratified to find that it was empty . But if there were no craft , there might be a good many mines ; therefore in order to avoid all possible risk we crossed the bay to its northern shore , keeping well out , and then , going dead slow and feeling our way with the lead , we hugged the northern shore line as closely as the depth of water would permit , until we arrived abreast a little indentation , or cove , when the engines were stopped , the boat lowered , and , with my revolvers in my belt , but no sword , a pocketful of cartridges , a water bottle , a wallet of provisions , an azimuth compass , and a box sextant , I was pulled ashore and landed in the cove , the boat immediately returning to the destroyer , which soon vanished in the darkness , making for the offing .