noon
The next morning she continued her course , and had run on with a brisk breeze for some hours , when Ben shouted out -- `` That 's the bay , sir , where Dick Sponson and I , when we had Batten with us , found the _ Sally Rose _ , after he had escaped from the Indians ; it is three days ' pull , in a heavy boat with the wind against us , to the northward of this , where we took Batten on board . I should know the place again almost as well as I know Dartmouth harbour . It was about six miles inland of that where our shipmates were killed . If we sail on at the rate we are now going , we shall reach it before noon to-morrow , always provided the wind do n't head us . '' This information was , at all events , satisfactory , and Ben was so positive that Roger could not but believe him . Ben added , that , to his belief , a short distance farther on there was a river , up which the long-boat might pull for many a league , and that he calculated it would take them into the very heart of the country where Batten , according to his account , had been . As they sailed on , Ben , every now and then , exclaimed -- `` I mind that point , for we were becalmed off it for the best part of a day . ''