noon
The food was bad and short allowance ; the key of the pump was strictly guarded , but we had excitement enough and to spare , for , six days before our ` landfall , ' the bo ` sun discovered fire in the fore-hold that had evidently been smouldering for some time , was deep-seated , and had secured a firm hold . It was difficult to get at the fire on account of the small hatchway , and notwithstanding the laboured efforts of all hands , we were at last obliged to batten the hatches down and to trust to a lucky ` slant ' to put us within hail of assistance . The water which we had so fruitlessly poured below had all to be pumped out again to get the ship in sailing trim ; and heart-breaking work it was , with the wheezy old pump sucking every time the ship careened to leeward . Anxiety showed on all faces , and it was with great relief that , one day at noon , we watched the Mate nailing a silver dollar to the mizzenmast . The dollar was his who should first sight the distant shore . We held a leading wind from the norrard , and when , on the afternoon of a bright day , we heard the glad shout from the fore-tops ' l yard -- `` Land-oh '' -- we put a hustle on our movements , and , light at heart , found excuse to lay aloft to have a far-away look at God 's good earth again . It was the Farallone Islands we had made -- thirty miles west from the Golden Gate -- a good landfall .