three o'clock
Finally , about noon , we were able to shake out our reefs and proceed under whole canvas , the sea by that time having almost completely gone down , leaving no trace of the previous night 's gale beyond a long and very heavy swell , in the hollows of which the two boats continually lost sight of each other . But although , by the mercy of Providence , we had weathered the gale , we had not by any means escaped scathless , for when we had once more settled down and had found opportunity to overhaul our stock of provisions , it was found that , despite our utmost precautions , an alarmingly large proportion of them had become damaged by rain and sea water , to such an extent , indeed , that about half of them had been rendered quite unfit for use , and we therefore threw that portion overboard , since there was obviously no advantage in wasting valuable space in the preservation of useless stores . And I did this the more readily , perhaps , because I calculated that , despite this heavy loss , we should still have enough left to carry us to our destination -- provided that we were not detained by calms on the way . We made excellent progress all that day , our reckoning showing that at three o'clock that afternoon we had traversed a distance of just forty miles since getting under way that morning , which distance was increased to fifty-eight by sunset . Moreover we had done well in another way , for the wounded had all been carefully looked after , and their hurts attended to as thoroughly as circumstances would allow , with the result that at nightfall each man reported himself as feeling distinctly better , notwithstanding the night of terrible hardship and exposure through which all had so recently passed . The sunset that evening was clear , promising a fine night , while the wind held steady and fair . We were consequently all in high spirits at the prospect of a quick and pleasant passage to Sierra Leone .