three o’clock in
the afternoon
The fine season was swiftly returning . Nature was reviving ; and among the evergreen foliage of the coniferae which formed the border of the wood , already appeared the young leaves of the banksias , deodars , and other trees . It may be remembered that Gideon Spilett and Herbert had , at different times , taken photographic views of Lincoln Island . Now , on the 17th of this month of October , towards three o'clock in the afternoon , Herbert , enticed by the charms of the sky , thought of reproducing Union Bay , which was opposite to Prospect Heights , from Cape Mandible to Claw Cape . The horizon was beautifully clear , and the sea , undulating under a soft breeze , was as calm as the waters of a lake , sparkling here and there under the sun 's rays . The apparatus had been placed at one of the windows of the dining-room at Granite House , and consequently overlooked the shore and the bay . Herbert proceeded as he was accustomed to do , and the negative obtained , he went away to fix it by means of the chemicals deposited in a dark nook of Granite House .