the sun at noon
called out a man who was up in the fore cross-trees , overhauling some of the running gear ; but the hail only occasioned a little temporary excitement , for the animals were much too far off for pursuit and , besides , Captain Brown wished to land the brothers and clear his ship of all cargo before going whaling on his own account . This consummation , however , was not long distant ; for some sixteen days or so after they had turned their backs on the South American coast , the skipper told Fritz he hoped to be at Tristan on the morrow . This was when he and the captain were having their usual quarter-deck walk in the first watch , the evening of the same day on which they passed the school of whales . `` Yes , sirree , '' he said , `` we 've run down to 36 degrees South latitude , I guess , an ' wer ` bout 13 degrees West when I took the sun at noon ; so I kalkerlate , if the wind do n't fail an ' the shep keeps on goin ' as she is , which is bootiful , I reckon , why we 'll fetch Tristan nigh on breakfus-time to-morrow , -- yes , sir ! '' `` Indeed ! '' exclaimed Fritz . He did not think they were anywhere near the place yet ; for , although it was more than two months since they had left Narraganset Bay , the ship appeared to sail so sluggishly and the voyage to be so tedious , that he would not have been surprised to hear some day from the captain that they would not reach their destination until somewhere about Christmas time !