midday
As the tide rose the white breakers disappeared , and the sea , fortunately for the `` Chancellor , '' was pretty calm ; otherwise the dashing of the waves against her sides , as she lies motionless , might have been attended by serious consequences . As might be supposed , the height of the water in the hold increased with the tide from five feet to nine ; but this was rather a matter for congratulation , inasmuch as it sufficed to inundate another layer of cotton . At half-past eleven the sun , which had been behind the clouds since ten o'clock , broke forth brightly . The captain , who had already in the morning been able to calculate an horary angle , now prepared to take the meridian altitude , and succeeded at midday in making his observation most satisfactorily . After retiring for a short time to calculate the result ; he returned to the poop and announced that we are in lat ; 18deg . 5 min . N. and long .