about one o’clock
in the afternoon
-- My uncle sat , collected in himself , without speaking ; my man Archy had recourse to a brandy-bottle , with which he made so free , that I imagined he had sworn to die of drinking any thing rather than sea-water : but the brandy had no more effect upon him in the way of intoxication , than if it had been sea-water in good earnest . -- As for myself , I was too much engrossed by the sickness at my stomach , to think of any thing else . Meanwhile the sea swelled mountains high , the boat pitched with such violence , as if it had been going to pieces ; the cordage rattled , the wind roared ; the lightning flashed , the thunder bellowed , and the rain descended in a deluge -- Every time the vessel was put about , we ship 'd a sea that drenched us all to the skin . -- When , by dint of turning , we thought to have cleared the pier head , we were driven to leeward , and then the boatmen themselves began to fear that the tide would fail before we should fetch up our lee-way : the next trip , however , brought us into smooth water , and we were safely landed on the quay , about one o'clock in the afternoon . -- ` To be sure -LRB- cried Tabby , when she found herself on terra firma -RRB- , we must all have perished , if we had not been the particular care of Providence . ' ` Yes -LRB- replied my uncle -RRB- , but I am much of the honest highlander 's mind -- after he had made such a passage as this : his friend told him he was much indebted to Providence ; -- `` Certainly -LRB- said Donald -RRB- , but , by my saul , mon , I ' se ne'er trouble Providence again , so long as the brig of Stirling stands . ''' -- You must know the brig , or bridge of Stirling , stands above twenty miles up the river Forth , of which this is the outlet -- I do n't find that our ` squire has suffered in his health from this adventure ; but poor Liddy is in a peaking way -- I 'm afraid this unfortunate girl is uneasy in her mind ; and this apprehension distracts me , for she is really an amiable creature .