About nine o'clock
As soon as it got dark , Wilkinson told the boatswain that it would be as well that a song should be started occasionally , but that not more than five or six men were to join in chorus . If , as they came out , they heard a dead silence they might think it unnatural , and it was quite possible that a boat would come on ahead of them to try and make out what they really were . In the intervals between the songs silence reigned , and all on deck listened intently . About nine o'clock Edgar exclaimed : `` I can hear oars ! '' `` So can I , '' Wilkinson replied , after listening for a minute . `` I do n't think that they are sweeps . No , it is a boat rowed by either two or four men -- four , I think . ''