about noon
Penellan looked about for an iceberg which might shelter them from the wind , and after refreshing themselves , with regrets that they had no warm drink , they spread their skins on the snow , wrapped themselves up , lay close to each other , and soon dropped asleep from sheer fatigue . The next morning Jean Cornbutte and his companions were buried beneath a bed of snow more than a foot deep . Happily their skins , perfectly impermeable , had preserved them , and the snow itself had aided in retaining their heat , which it prevented from escaping . The captain gave the signal of departure , and about noon they at last descried the coast , which at first they could scarcely distinguish . High ledges of ice , cut perpendicularly , rose on the shore ; their variegated summits , of all forms and shapes , reproduced on a large scale the phenomena of crystallization . Myriads of aquatic fowl flew about at the approach of the party , and the seals , lazily lying on the ice , plunged hurriedly into the depths . `` I ' faith ! ''