nearly six o'clock
A Night at Sea -- Shark Gulf -- Confidences -- Preparations for Winter -- Forwardness of the bad Season -- Severe Cold -- Work in the Interior -- In six Months -- A photographic Negative -- Unexpected Incident . 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 .