two after midnight
These gifts placed in my hammock , I afterward found very agreeable in the warm latitudes to which we were bound ; nor did they fail to awaken most grateful remembrances . About nightfall , we broke away from this generous-hearted household , and hurried down to the water . It was a mad , merry night among the sailors ; they had on tap a small cask of wine , procured in the same way as the doctor 's flasks . An hour or two after midnight , everything was noiseless ; but when the first streak of the dawn showed itself over the mountains , a sharp voice hailed the forecastle , and ordered the ship unmoored . The anchors came up cheerily ; the sails were soon set ; and with the early breath of the tropical morning , fresh and fragrant from the hillsides , we slowly glided down the bay , and were swept through the opening in the reef . Presently we `` hove to , '' and the canoes came alongside to take off the islanders who had accompanied us thus far . As he stepped over the side , I shook the doctor long and heartily by the hand .