nearly six
o’clock
A few minutes after , finding himself alone in the bows of the vessel , with the reporter , the engineer bent down and whispered , -- `` If there is one thing certain in this world , Spilett , it is that I never lighted any fire during the night of the 19th of October , neither on Prospect Heights nor on any other part of the island ! '' Things happened as Pencroft had predicted , he being seldom mistaken in his prognostications . The wind rose , and from a fresh breeze it soon increased to a regular gale ; that is to say , it acquired a speed of from forty to forty-five miles an hour , before which a ship in the open sea would have run under close-reefed topsails . Now , as it was nearly six o'clock when the `` Bonadventure '' reached the gulf , and as at that moment the tide turned , it was impossible to enter . They were therefore compelled to stand off , for even if he had wished to do so , Pencroft could not have gained the mouth of the Mercy . Hoisting the jib to the mainmast by way of a storm-sail , he hove to , putting the head of the vessel towards the land . Fortunately , although the wind was strong the sea , being sheltered by the land , did not run very high .