noon
They made a good start . Little by little the black line of the reefs and the yellow banks of sand disappeared under the swelling tide . Extreme watchfulness and perfect skill were necessary to avoid these submerged rocks , and steer a bark that did not readily answer to the helm , and that constantly broke off . At noon they were still five miles from shore . A tolerably clear sky allowed them to make out the principal features of the land . In the northeast rose a mountain about 2,300 feet high , whose sharply defined outline was exactly like the grinning face of a monkey turned toward the sky . It was Pirongia , which the map gave as exactly on the 38th parallel .