noon
A current had set him further north than he intended to go , but having hauled up to south-west , he waited only for noon to ascertain his latitude , to be certain of his position . As the governor maintained a proper distance from his people , and was not in the habit of making-unnecessary communications to them , his present frankness told for so much the more , and it produced a very general excitement in the ship . All eyes were on the look-out for land , greatly increasing the chances of its being shortly seen . The observation came at noon , as is customary , and the governor found he was about thirty miles to the northward of the group of islands he was seeking . By his calculation , he was still to the eastward of it , and he hauled up , hoping to fall in with the land well to windward . After standing on three hours in the right direction , the look-outs from the cross-trees declared no land was visible ahead . For one moment the dreadful apprehension of the group 's having sunk under another convulsion of nature crossed Mark 's mind , but he entertained that notion for a minute only .