noon
Fortunately for my purpose , we were making rather a long passage of it , the little hooker not being by any means a particularly weatherly craft ; consequently our first land-fall -- on our sixth day out -- was the curious shoal and accompanying group of rocky islets called Los Roques , or The Roccas , off La Guayra , close to which we hove about and stood to the northward on the starboard tack . This occurred during the early morning , about an hour after sunrise . The trade wind was then blowing steadily but moderately , and the weather was , as usual , fine and clear . Toward noon , however , it became noticeable that the wind was very decidedly softening down ; and when Dominguez took his meridian observation of the sun , we were not going more than four knots . It was the custom aboard the felucca to dine in the middle of the day , as soon as Dominguez had worked out his calculations , the skipper and I dining first , and then going on deck while Miguel , the mate , took his meal . While Miguel was below Dominguez usually took the tiller , but of late I had occasionally relieved him -- with a vague idea that possibly it might , at some opportune moment , be an advantage for me to be at the helm . And , as it happened , I chanced to be first on deck on this particular day , and , without any premeditation , went aft and relieved Miguel ; so that , when a few minutes later Dominguez came on deck , he found me in possession of the tiller , and staring intently at some floating object about a quarter of a mile away , and slightly on our weather bow , that kept rising into view and vanishing again as the long , lazy undulations of the swell swept past it .