eight o'clock
asked Conseil , `` and we shall know how to rely upon the Captain 's amiability . '' To my great surprise , Captain Nemo gave me the permission I asked for , and he gave it very agreeably , without even exacting from me a promise to return to the vessel ; but flight across New Guinea might be very perilous , and I should not have counselled Ned Land to attempt it . Better to be a prisoner on board the Nautilus than to fall into the hands of the natives . At eight o'clock , armed with guns and hatchets , we got off the Nautilus . The sea was pretty calm ; a slight breeze blew on land . Conseil and I rowing , we sped along quickly , and Ned steered in the straight passage that the breakers left between them . The boat was well handled , and moved rapidly .