about
noon
These discoveries immediately determined us to abandon a place which had presented no inducement for us to remain , except the promise of security ; and as we looked about us for the means of ascending again into the upper regions , we at last found a practicable part of the rock , and half-an-hour 's toil carried us to the summit of the same cliff from which the preceding evening we had descended . I now proposed to Toby that instead of rambling about the island , exposing ourselves to discovery at every turn , we should select some place as our fixed abode for as long a period as our food should hold out , build ourselves a comfortable hut , and be as prudent and circumspect as possible . To all this my companion assented , and we at once set about carrying the plan into execution . With this view , after exploring without success a little glen near us , we crossed several of the ridges of which I have before spoken ; and about noon found ourselves ascending a long and gradually rising slope , but still without having discovered any place adapted to our purpose . Low and heavy clouds betokened an approaching storm , and we hurried on to gain a covert in a clump of thick bushes , which appeared to terminate the long ascent . We threw ourselves under the lee of these bushes , and pulling up the long grass that grew around , covered ourselves completely with it , and awaited the shower . But it did not come as soon as we had expected , and before many minutes my companion was fast asleep , and I was rapidly falling into the same state of happy forgetfulness .