four o’clock in the afternoon
He was the more convinced of this as two days before he had seen an island far to the north of him and guessed it to be either San Felix or San Ambrose , and had shaped his course rather more to the south in consequence . That night he was too excited to turn in as usual , but held on his course . By morning the land lay little more than twenty miles away , and he recognized at once the outline of the hills that he had passed when sailing north , and knew where Valparaiso lay , some fifty miles further south . He changed his course accordingly , and at four o'clock in the afternoon dropped his stone anchor a hundred yards off the quay of the Chilian port . Stephen busied himself in stowing away his sails . By the time he had done so a small crowd had collected on the quay looking with surprise and wonder at the little craft with its unpainted sides and rough appearance . In a short time a boat with a port official rowed alongside , and stepping on deck the officer looked round , in surprise at seeing only one person on board .